At the bottom of this page is a brief overview of homelessness and evidence-based solutions.

Recognizing that we must focus our efforts, CCEH has the following immediate priorities:

1. Get person-specific data and collaborate on person-specific solutions

CCEH estimates there are 300 chronically homeless individuals in Concord, NH, living in shelters, cars, and encampments based on a “by-name” list of each person experiencing chronic homelessness in Concord, including their current situation and housing barriers. CCEH collaborates with our local service providers to refine and maintain this list, and begin problem-solving to find a housing solution for each person, starting with the longest-term and most vulnerable on the list.

2. Create new affordable housing and Permanent Supportive Housing

It is no secret that Concord needs more – and less costly – rental housing. The vacancy rate in Concord, and most of New Hampshire, is extremely low (less than 0.7%). CCEH intends to promote, and actively pursue, the creation of more affordable housing in Concord as well as the inclusion of more Permanent Supportive Housing units within existing rental properties and new housing developments.

Rental housing is generally considered “affordable” when the household is paying no more than 30% of their gross income on rent and utilities. CCEH is focused on rental housing that is affordable to households that earn less than 60% of the area median income, which corresponds with New Hampshire’s Workforce Housing Law. (For a single person living in Merrimack County, this translates to approximately $62,640 in gross income, and $1,570 in total rent and utilities costs per month. Chronically homeless individuals often rely on disability payments as their only source of income, which is only approximately $850 per month, so additional rental assistance is required to make even an “affordable” apartment viable.)

Housing development could take many forms:

• Larger, mixed-income developments containing market rate housing, affordable housing, and Permanent Supportive Housing. (For example, a 30-unit apartment complex with 10 units of Permanent Supportive Housing set aside for people exiting homelessness)
• Small-scale Permanent Supportive Housing, where all of the tenants in a four – to ten-unit apartment building have exited homelessness and are receiving on-going supportive services.
• “Accessory dwelling units” for rent on private property, which would reduce the pressure on the rental market and combat the extremely low vacancy rate in Concord.
• Cottage-sized homes built as “pocket communities” on fill-in lots.

The obstacles to creating new affordable and Permanent Supportive Housing:

• Locating and securing suitable building sites.
• High construction costs
• Securing and developing subsidies to make the units affordable is a highly competitive process.
• Securing rental assistance to make units affordable to extremely low-income tenants (i.e., people coming from homelessness who may only have disability income) is also a highly competitive process.
• The long development period: it can take two to four years to secure property, financing, and subsidies even for a small project.
• Community misinformation and lack of understanding around affordable housing and Permanent Supportive Housing leading to a “not-in-my-backyard” mentality.
• Outdated zoning policies that do not account for the current housing need or the modern desires of the community.

Given these obstacles, even if one large apartment complex with ten units set aside as Permanent Supportive Housing were built every three years, plus one smaller four-unit project containing all Permanent Supportive Housing units were built every two years, it could take 20 years to end chronic homelessness in Concord. This would be a tragedy for our community, and a squandering of human life.

CCEH is looking for properties that can be developed into Permanent Supportive Housing. We are reaching out to the City, the State, and the faith community to identify suitable property for any of the types of development described above.

We know that we cannot reach this goal alone. CCEH is actively seeking partners to develop the affordable housing this community needs. Working together to attack the housing crisis and create Permanent Supportive Housing solutions, we can make homelessness in our community a rare, brief, and one-time event.

Homelessness is a complex issue, and the causes for homelessness are intertwined with the consequences. Being homeless impacts your physical and mental health, your ability to complete school or maintain a job. Because a stable home is the foundation for a healthy, stable life, homelessness is actually a public health issue, one that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the majority of people who ever experience homelessness, it is a one-time event in their life, often brought on by inadequate income and high housing costs, coupled with a crisis such as the loss of a job or a medical issue. For a smaller percentage, about 20 to 40% of all homeless people, suffer from “chronic homelessness,” meaning they have experienced homelessness for at least a year while also struggling with a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or a physical disability.

People experiencing chronic homelessness typically use the lion’s share of the resources that a community devotes to this issue. By ending chronic homelessness, the entire homeless services system is better able to respond effectively to short-term, episodic homelessness. Ending chronic homelessness is not only a compassionate strategy, it also makes good financial sense, because people struggling with long-term homelessness typically use a disproportionate amount of costly public services such as police, ambulance, emergency rooms, and jails.

• Homelessness is a solvable problem. Numerous communities in the United States have ended chronic homelessness and are on course to end all homelessness. This means that homelessness is prevented whenever possible, and when it does occur, it is a rare, brief, and one-time event. Working with Community Solutions “Built for Zero” initiative, these communities have committed to breaking down the silos between the different agencies that serve people who are homeless. Collaborating as a united team, they collect and share real-time data on everyone who is experiencing homelessness in a community. From this comprehensive, constantly updated picture of the reality, they match available resources to the specific needs of the individuals and remove barriers to securing housing.
• Ending homelessness requires a crisis response system to identify and assess those at risk or experiencing homelessness, provide short-term assistance to prevent homelessness whenever possible, and make connections to emergency services such as shelter, as well as to permanent housing opportunities.
• Increase housing stability and help prevent homelessness through programs that increase incomes, such as assistance in accessing mainstream benefits, job training, or other educational opportunities.
• While homelessness is not just a matter of a lack of housing supply, there is no question that the lack of affordable housing is one of the key driving factors. Government subsidies for the development of affordable housing projects, and rental assistance for tenants, such as Housing Choice Vouchers, make the rents affordable to low-income persons.
  • Rapid Rehousing Programs offer short-term rental assistance and services;
  • For chronically homeless individuals, Permanent Supportive Housing combines on-going supportive services with affordable housing assistance. A case manager assists the tenant to develop independent living skills and to connect with whatever community-based services they need, such as health care, treatment, or employment services. Permanent Supportive Housing is a proven, cost-effective solution for ending chronic homelessness, and it allows people to live with dignity and become contributing members of our community.