MANCHESTER, N.H. – Through collaborative efforts, the city has increased its capacity to temporarily shelter at least 155 homeless individuals this winter, although that figure could quickly change.
Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig presented an overview of the city’s winter sheltering plan to the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Tuesday night, with the COVID-19 pandemic creating additional obstacles this year.
Between Families in Transition/New Horizons, Angie’s Place and transitional housing converted into temporary overflow at 1269 Café, the report indicated that 123 socially-distanced shelter beds are available in the city as of Nov. 30, with another 29 short-term warming center beds available at the Cashin Senior Center.
The report indicated that by Dec. 31, the warming center bed total will rise to 65 and the shelter bed total will rise to 200 thanks in large part to a temporary sheltering facility – which has yet to be secured.
Craig reported that Families in Transition/New Horizons has been looking at a variety of potential locations to replace what would have been the temporary sheltering facility on Pearl Street, with a final decision expected to be announced next week.
Based on data collected by the Manchester Homeless Outreach Collaboration last month, there have been 431 total identified unsheltered individuals in Manchester since January 2020, of which the outreach team has been unable to engage with or confirm their whereabouts in the past 30 days.
However, news of the closure of the state-owned Dube Center in Laconia, located on the grounds of the former Laconia State School, could impact the city. Up until this point, the Dube Center has served as a shelter for unsheltered individuals with a positive COVID test or were exposed to those identified with COVID-19 under an agreement between the state and the city of Laconia. If a replacement for the Dube Center cannot be found, Angie’s Place will serve as a quarantine shelter for any unsheltered individuals with COVID-19 in the city. The Dube Center has capacity for about 20 people.
The news about the Dube Center was met with incredulity by Anthony Sapienza (Ward 5) as he echoed the recent frustration from Craig over a lack of planning regarding homelessness by the state as well as a fear that those being housed at the Dube Center will be transferred to Manchester.
“What if we just decided to close New Horizons and Angie’s Place, stop supporting them. What is going on statewide? This is outrageous,” he said.
The winter sheltering update was one of several presented at the meeting with Manchester Health Department Director Anna Thomas providing an update on the city’s response to COVID-19.
As of Monday, Manchester has seen a 14-day rolling average of 68.3 new daily cases, seven times higher than just a month earlier. This spike has pushed the city’s resources to their limit according to Thomas, with some days seeing as many as 126 new cases in the city.
Thomas encouraged all Manchester residents to seek COVID-19 testing, also announcing that mobile testing will be centralized at the Chestnut Street parking lot of SNHU Arena starting on Dec. 8.
Editor’s note: The story has been updated as of 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 2. to correct some information.