Six months on the job as mayor, Ruais says there’s progress – last Tuesday the Board of Aldermen banned camping in the city and transferred half a million dollars to the police department to provide “hot spot patrols” in problem areas. Those two things will begin to move the needle, says Ruais.
The median cost for a two-bedroom apartment in New Hampshire is about $1,584. To afford it, someone would have to earn about $31 an hour. With the minimum wage at $7.25 an hour, someone working 168 hours a week — every hour of every day — could not afford the rent. To kick off an occasional series on homelessness, Melanie Plenda talks with Jennifer Chisholm, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness, about the problems and solutions related to homelessness in New Hampshire.
Getting a new job can be a daunting task for anyone, let alone someone who has no fixed address. However, a new weekly event at the 39 Beech Street Engagement Center is aiming to change that.
The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the “cruel and unusual punishment clause” of the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit cities from enforcing “no sleeping in public” ordinances among the homeless, even if they have nowhere else to go.
Each year on the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice, members of the community gather at Veterans Park to commemorate local homeless individuals who have died. This year, members of community gathered again on the longest day of the year to celebrate homeless individuals who have survived. Additionally, those at the gathering also shared their thoughts on how to help others find their way out of homelessness.
Twice a day the fire department can expect a call relating to homelessness in some way, whether it’s a fire at an encampment that needs to be extinguished; the river flooded with high rains and campers are stuck on the banks, or a medical emergency requires the departments’ attention
The mayor’s office on Thursday announced a collaboration with Members First Credit Union and Catholic Charities NH to launch a pilot program for those experiencing homelessness and utilizing services at the Engagement Center.
As someone who was homeless myself – three years ago – I have a unique understanding of the homelessness crisis that our Board of Mayor and Aldermen don’t have. Since I worked remotely before moving up to New Hampshire in February 2016, I was able to continue working while I stayed at the New Horizons shelter at 199 Manchester Street.
Federal, state, and local partners exceed challenge to house 50 Veterans in 5 months/
This past election cycle, Mayor Ruais promised a different approach to the homelessness crisis. Unfortunately, he seems poised to repeat some of the immoral and ineffective policies of past administrations.
The cafe’s example of giving is but one among many people and organizations from all walks of life doing what they can to assist Manchester’s homeless community.
Over the weekend a group of about 30 people, many of whom have been living homeless in the city for well over a year, returned to a nomadic existence. They were moved several times by police who have been citing them for various violations of city ordinances that address sidewalk encumbrances and public/private property.
Addressing Gov. Chris Sununu’s budget director, officials with DHHS argued that the state had been underfunding the shelters in the state for years. Currently, the state allocates just under $5 million in state funds per year; the department asked Sununu to fund them at $12 million per year in his next proposed budget.
The shelter for women is one of three shelter initiatives the city has stood up since the beginning of January to meet the need for basic shelter for the homeless.
“I’m grateful that the meeting occurred and I think it was eye-opening for the state to hear directly from the mayors, and what we are encountering in our communities,” Mayor Joyce Craig said of the Jan. 20 meeting with DHHS interim commissioner Lori Weaver and others in Concord.
A fire underneath the I–293 northbound bridge in Manchester was temporarily closed Wednesday morning after a fire was reported at a homeless encampment.
I didn’t want to write anything today. Then I got a text message and a voicemail from two separate people around Manchester telling me they are living in their cars with no place to go. I am a community organizer with Rights & Democracy, not a social worker, but people are increasingly coming to me for help – help I’m unable to provide.
New Hampshire is in the midst of a housing crisis that extends beyond the shortage of market-rate units, past the working poor to include the state’s homeless population, a problem that has been accelerated by a lapse in statewide emergency housing funding and an increasing number of people being evicted after the COVID-19 eviction moratorium expired over the summer.
Activists organized in Veterans Park ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled Board of Aldermen meeting in protest of an ordinance aimed at the homeless pertaining to camping, shopping carts and bicycles in public parks.
