Last month Governor Chris Sununu put together a council on housing stability, which has been tasked with updating the state's homelessness plan and addressing broader issues with housing affordability and stability.
Among the members chosen for the council is Kadyja Harris of Manchester, who has been homeless. She spoke with NHPR's Peter Biello.Note: The following transcript was machine generated and may contain errors
The press release announcing the members of the council said that you had experienced housing instability. What's your story?
I was homeless by choice. My parents were substance abusers. My mom was a heroin addict and my father, he was an alcoholic. So growing up in that household, it was very unstable. It was kind of like a revolving door of drug activity. It wasn't very feasible for children to grow up and live in that environment. So it was myself and my sister and once things got a little bit too rough and chaotic, we decided to leave.
My sister ended up leaving and living with my grandmother. It was between her and me, so I decided to make that choice, because my sister is disabled and can't really live independently. She ended up going with my grandmother and I ended up being homeless. So I ended up couch surfing, as they say, you know, with friends, here and there. There was one lady in particular who I still talk to to this day, she's kind of like my second mom. She took me in a couple of times. Also, sleeping in my car. So all together, it was a very unfortunate situation.
So you were homeless for a couple of years when you were a teenager and young adult. Eventually you took advantage of what is now Waypoint's transitional living program. What made you finally want to take advantage of that program?
I think it was...I had a case manager. They had this thing called "the drop in" and you'd go in and get clothes, you could get food, you could get hygiene products, and sometimes...I was very prideful back then. I was used to doing things and handling things on my own and I didn't really ask for help. But every time I saw the case manager, she would always want to help me. It was very hard for me to accept that help, because I was so used to being on my own. But that didn't stop her, you know, even though I was very resistant to accepting that help. She pushed and pushed for at least a year. Then I just...things were not turning out in my favor and I said, you know, what do I have to lose? I'm already homeless. [Laughs] So I ended up trying it and it was the best decision I've ever made.
You've had the first meeting of the Governor's Council on Housing Stability. What did the group discuss?
We talked about a lot of stoff. We talked about short-term and long-term things that we could work on to address this homelessness issue that we're facing and what's to come of the future and basically kind of get everybody's standpoint. Just give us a little background on what we're dealing with here.
What concrete policy changes might you be pushing for?
I can only speak from my own personal experience, and the transitional living program was something that did benefit me in the long-run, so I think utilizing some of those programs and getting some more of that would be helpful. The transitional program they have in Manchester, I loved the set-up, I loved how it was a duplex. It was clean. It's in a good neighborhood. Probably what I'm getting at is gifting abandoned buildings to build shelters for people that need them. Another one is having access to more physical resources: clothes, food, sleeping bags, hygiene products, maybe even money. Funding. Can't do a lot without that.
What do you want your fellow council members to understand about what it's like to live with housing instability?
It's a very scary process and it's not something that I would have wanted for myself, but I think going through that experience really shaped me and molded me to who I am today. I am currently working on my third degree. I'm a graduate student at SNHU. I know that feeling of being without, because I've lived that life, I know what it's like. I think it's important that these issues are addressed and they're addressed in the correct way because I think our generations that are to come really do depend on it.
