MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) approved a two-month extension to the closing date of the temporary emergency shelter on Beech Street, putting the current closure date on June 30.
The BMA also approved the creation of a new department that will oversee the shelter to be known as the Department of Housing Stability, originally intended to be known as the Department of Homeless Initiatives.
Manchester Director of Housing Initiatives Adrienne Beloin proposed the extension after concerns that numbers of unhoused individuals returning to the streets would climb once the temporary shelter closed given hotel closings and warming weather.
Beloin said the added time for the temporary shelter would allow many of the regular occupants at the Beech Street temporary shelter to further stabilize their lives, which could help them obtain increased housing security in the long run. The added time would allow people staying there to find a more permanent space.
According to Manchester Fire Department Chief Ryan Cashin, the temporary shelter currently costs the city $66,195 per month.
That proposed permanent facility, which Beloin referred to as an “engagement center,” would be comparable to the daytime shelters she has run in Boston in the past, would build upon the techniques used on Beech Street to increase trust between the city’s homeless population and volunteers as well as help unhoused people regain a sense of normalcy in their lives with things that provide comfort like showers and the ability to receive mail.
Alderman At-Large Joseph Kelly Levasseur opposed the concept of expanding the life span of the Beech Street shelter, believing that it would become a magnet for homeless individuals elsewhere in the state and that providing comforts would also not incentivize homeless individuals from leaving the shelter. Beloin in turn repeated the effectiveness of creating support networks through engagement by allowing dignity through comfort items helping to build those networks.
Levasseur also criticized littering nearby the shelter at the former Police Department Station on Chestnut Street, and felt that the approach by Gatehouse’s Amanda Robichaud would be more effective than Beloin’s engagement center plan.
Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig agreed that the littering was unacceptable, but challenged Levasseur’s comparison between Robichaud’s efforts and Beloin’s, noting that Robichaud is focused on substance abuse and not all homeless people suffer from substance abuse and even then, they cannot be forced into detox programs.
Ward 3 Alderman Pat Long supported the idea of extending the closure date on Beech Street, but challenged Beloin regarding comfort, stating that he saw people improve their lives only when they were uncomfortable and spurred to change. Beloin replied that within the past 10 years that philosophy has changed and research has shown that building connections and trust is a more effective approach in solving the problem of homelessness.
Ward 10 Alderman Bill Barry said he supported the efforts, but also questioned the idea of comforts, fearing it may be detrimental to homeless people moving into a more permanent solution, with Beloin stating that information came from national initiatives designed to end homelessness. Barry also asked if Alcoholics Anonymous was currently engaging with the Beech Street Shelter and Beloin believed that they were, noting that there are multiple paths to housing stability, with Alcoholics Anonymous and other groups helping people along those paths.
Beloin responded to comments from Barry earlier in the evening criticizing a lack of updates to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen during the first four months of her tenure by stating the beginning of her time in Manchester was hectic and she would increase her efforts to provide communication, stating that she had also been at many Aldermanic meetings to date and was happy to answer questions.
Beloin received praise from Craig, Ward 12 Alderman Erin George-Kelly and Ward 1 Alderman Kevin Cavanaugh for providing comprehensive strategies in dealing with the city’s homelessness crisis.
Both the vote for the shelter extension and the department creation were by voice vote and were not unanimous.
The department creation still requires additional Aldermanic committee approvals before it is codified into the city charter.
UPDATE: On Wednesday, the Office of Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig announced that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen accepted a $2,000,000 grant from the InvestNH Municipal Per-Unit Grant Program.
This program, meant to incentivize communities to add affordable housing, was capped at $1,000,000 per municipality, per year. However, due to the significant increase in affordable housing in Manchester, the City was granted a waiver to received twice the available award.
These funds will be immediately invested as a low-interest loan to develop 192 units of affordable housing at the corner of Merrimack and Chestnut. The payments on this loan will then be reinvested in the City’s Affordable Housing Trust fund to continue to add additional affordable housing to the community.
The City of Manchester has allocated $16.7 million in the last three years toward increasing affordable housing and addressing homelessness and substance use disorder in the City of Manchester. This has resulted in the development of over 500 new units of affordable housing and supporting over 100 emergency, transitional, SUD treatment and rapid rehousing rehousing beds.
