MANCHESTER, NH – Dismas Home of New Hampshire has closed on a property in Rochester that will allow it to serve three times the amount of justice-involved women annually that it does now.
Dismas Home, the state’s only residential treatment and re-entry program dedicated solely to justice-involved women and female veterans with substance-use disorder, will maintain its flagship center on Manchester’s West Side. The expansion in Rochester will provide 20 beds for women transitioning to living independently.
“Demand for our holistic, trauma-informed program has never been higher,” said Cheryll Andrews, executive director of Dismas Home of NH, in a news release Thursday. “This new Rochester location lets us extend our two-phase model — comprehensive clinical treatment followed by transitional living — into the Seacoast region, providing more women with the safe environment, skills, and support they need to thrive after incarceration.”
Dismas Home’s purchase of the 245 Rochester Hill Road location has been in the works since late last year, after a plan to buy the former Daniel Webster Boy Scouts headquarters on Holt Avenue wasmet with strong opposition from abutters and other Manchester-area residents. The Manchester Zoning Board of Appeals approved the project, but opposition continued, and Andrews said earlier this year that Dismas Home had to let it go. Rochester, which welcomed the plan “with open arms,” was a better fit, she said.
The care center is in a 7,646 building that formerly housed a pediatric medical center and was previously owned by HCA Healthcare, part of the Frisbie Memorial Hospital system before the Tennessee-based health care system bought Frisbie and its assets in 2020. HCA has consolidated many Frisbie services and is selling property across Strafford County.
The 12-year-old building was on the market for nearly two years before Dismas Home entered into an agreement last fall, according to real estate records. Andrews said the building will need less renovation work than the four-decade-old Holt Avenue property in Manchester.
Dismas Home has a two-phase program that includes a 90-day trauma-focused treatment plan as well as a Transitional Living Program for those who’ve completed the plan that combines workforce education, life skills training, and ongoing therapeutic support.
“Graduates have achieved sustained sobriety, secured stable employment, and reunited with families — outcomes that reduce recidivism and strengthen New Hampshire communities,” the release said.
The Rochester center will include:
- 20 furnished bedrooms for 90-day and Transitional Living Program residents
- Commercial kitchen, living, and dining spaces that foster community and healthy routines
- Dedicated clinical and executive office suites for on-site therapy, case management, and workforce coaching
- Recreation and outdoor gardening areas to support physical wellness and restorative activities
- Round-the-clock clinical staff to ensure continuous care and crisis response
Dismas Home’s programs are for women between ages 18 and 64 whose earnings are 400% of the federal poverty guideline or below, and are justice-involved with no violent convictions and no violent behavior during their incarceration. They must also be a minimum 30 days sober to be eligible for the program. They have a 9 p.m. curfew and are prohibited from using drugs and alcohol.
The additional capacity and expanded vocational training space will allow Dismas Home to pilot new partnerships with local employers, trade programs, and veterans’ services, “furthering its mission to empower women, including women veterans, to rebuild their lives and re-enter the community with confidence,” the news release said.
Andrews said earlier this year that the service the home will provide is vital for women who are on the road to recovery.
“Residential treatment programs like Dismas Home are limited in New Hampshire,” she said. “And in our experience the ‘magic’ happens when residents are completely supported 24 hours a day for the nine months of the program. We give them the opportunity to focus 100% on healing trauma, learning to live in recovery from addiction and building life skills. Our goal is to help women build a strong foundation for a successful life in the community.”
The project is supported by a 2024 Community Finance Development Association tax credit grant. The CFDA program allows businesses to offset their tax burden to the state by donating to nonprofit that have been awarded grants. The nonprofit is in the fundraising process to achieve those amounts, hoping that businesses that want to offset business taxes will find it a good fit. Funding is also from an Opioid Abatement Trust Grant.
“This sort of facility is needed, not only in Rochester but also greatly in New Hampshire,” attorney Josh Lanzetta, of Burton and Berube, told the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals in February. “People are struggling with addiction, there are facilities like this interspersed throughout the tri-city area right now…they are very helpful to the people who are utilizing them and to their families, and that’s why the ordinance provides for this, but with a little bit of extra regulation, asking for a special permit just to check through the criteria.”
He added, “This is a really good use for the community. It provides jobs, and it provides solace and help [for the residents].”
Andrews, too, said Rochester was a good fit for the program. It’s designated as an economic growth city and there are opportunities for the women there, both for employment, and for building a life.
The project went before the Rochester ZBA for a special exception since it was a residential use in a commercial/office zone. The special exception differs from a variance in that the use is allowed, but must be approved by the board, which determines if it is an appropriate location, not detrimental to the neighborhood, doesn’t create undue traffic hazards, has adequate public facilities, and is consistent with the spirit of the zoning ordinance and the Master Plan. The ZBA approved the exception with little discussion, and there was no opposition from the public.
In early 2024, the Manchester ZBA voted in favor of the variance, needed since the site is zoned industrial, though it’s wedged between two residential zones. The approval came after two meetings and much debate. In March 2024, the ZBA voted not to hear an appeal from abutters. Dismas Home had not closed on the 571 Holt Ave. property pending city approval, but as opponents took their appeal up the ladder, the organization decided to look elsewhere rather than continue the fight.
The Holt Avenue property, which had been on the market since 2021, was sold to cleaning business Servpro in December, with no public opposition from abutters.