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New Hampshire lawmakers weigh spending $15M more on shelter, housing support

NH Statehouse and Daniel Webster Statute
Dan Tuohy
/
NHPR
Daniel Webster statue in front of the NH State House in Concord, New Hampshire. Dan Tuohy photo / NHPR

This story was originally produced by the Concord Monitor. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.

Families in Transition turned away 885 people from its adult shelter in Manchester last year.

There’s simply no room, said Maria Devlin, the organization’s president. It operates at a 97% occupancy rate throughout the year, and the organization’s family shelter currently has a waitlist of two dozen families. Families in Transition also has a million-dollar deficit that needs to be filled through philanthropy – or the state.

She’s hoping the Legislature will pass Senate Bill 113, which will seek to allocate $15 million each year to supplement nonprofits that provide services to people at risk of and experiencing homelessness.

“The need for emergency shelters is great – we already know that – but it’s not a long-term solution to our housing crisis,” Devlin said. “Senate Bill 113 can help ensure that shelters are funded more appropriately for the services that we’re providing day in and day out to provide that necessary safety net between living unsheltered to stable housing.”

Sen. Regina Birdsell, a Hampstead Republican, introduced the legislation on Tuesday. Her goal is to sustain and support more shelter beds throughout the state, but she also wants to invest in prevention strategies for the long term.

“Preventing individuals from becoming homeless is significantly cheaper for the state and for local municipalities than addressing an individual’s needs once they fall into homelessness,” Birdsell said.

The state’s Department of Health and Human Services would have authority over how to best use those dollars. In its first draft, $12 million would be broadly allocated to nonprofits that help people experiencing homelessness.

The other $3 million would go toward organizations that help people with eviction prevention and rehousing, including through rental assistance.

Senate Bill 114, from Democratic Sen. Donovan Fenton, would similarly allocate more money to support transitional housing programs at community mental health centers.

These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

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