131 Workers Locked Out, Plus Parish Workers on the Economy

The details are sketchy but the closure at Precision Technology was so abrupt, Labor Commissioner George Copadis had to go inside the building himself to get the workers’ final paychecks. . Governor John Lynch said the state will do everything it can to help. The state’s rapid response team is holding Saturday sessions for the displaced workers.

Home foreclosures in July dipped just a hair compared to last year but largely held steady. About 300 households lost their homes. State housing officials say they’re hopeful that the worst is over. Even though the mortgage delinquency rate is at a record high, they believe banks are getting better at working with borrowers to adjust the terms of their loans.

Our economic snapshot this week comes from Catholic Charities. We held a roundtable with parish outreach workers from around the state and asked them what they see going on.

MONTAGE: I’m Leonard Campbell. I work out of the Laconia office of New Hampshire Catholic Charities and what I’m seeing is people who are facing homelessness. Not because they aren’t paying their rent but because their landlords are now losing their houses and the banks don’t want to be landlords. //

My name is Sister Helene Higgins. I work in the Seacoast area and what I am seeing is people who never ever dreamt they’d lose their job. Losing their job and being totally ignorant of what systems are available to assist them and their families and not even knowing the questions to ask. //

I’m Tony Pokert out of the Littleton office of Catholic Charities. We’re seeing people who are very frightened by the lack of jobs. As each mill closes, there are more opportunities lost and nothing coming in to replace it so there’s a high level of anxiety. But on the flip side of that, we’re seeing a great deal of resiliency among neighbors, ready to help neighbors and roll up their sleeves in whatever kind of grassroots effort it takes to sustain people through the crisis.

Parish outreach coordinators talking about the economy.

Picking up on that idea of resilience, on the Working It Out blog, we got a note from Groveton. A man who calls himself Dasha described how neighbors have been putting up pink flamingos all around town as part of a fundraiser for a family facing some tough circumstances.

With this economic round-up, I’m Jon Greenberg.