Homelessness is declining in New Hampshire, but many families are on the brink
by Larry Clow, illustration by Alyssa Grenning
Sara Stevens has been “pretty much” homeless for the last year. “I was at … Cross Roads House for six months, from January to July. Then I found a place, but that ended up falling apart around September. Since then I’ve been staying at hotels,” she said.
Stevens lost her apartment when she and her boyfriend split up last year. Together, they could afford the rent. “After we split up, one person couldn’t afford the rent, and I haven’t been able to find a place that I can afford on my own. “
Since then, the challenges have piled up. She doesn’t have a car, and that makes even simple things like going to the grocery store or cooking a meal difficult.
“It’s wicked hard. Cooking is wicked hard. You can only get a microwave and a little refrigerator in a little hotel room, and that’s not very nutritious.”
Stevens’ story is a typical one. Homelessness is an “invisible problem” on the Seacoast, according to Betsey Andrews Parker, executive director of Strafford Community Action. “We see few people on the streets begging, but what we really have are many people who are no longer able to afford their apartments or homes,” she said.
Statewide, homelessness is slowly declining. According to a 2014 report by the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness (NHCEH), the state’s homeless population dropped from 1,685 in 2013 to 1,635 in 2014. There was also improvement in some of the risk factors that lead to homelessness. The state’s unemployment rate dropped from 5.3 percent in 2013 to 4.5 percent in 2014, and the number of people temporarily living with friends, family, or nonrelatives for economic reasons fell from 891 to 562.
While those numbers are encouraging, advocates remain worried. Rents are increasing, available housing units are decreasing, and wages aren’t keeping pace with rising costs. Those factors mean many Seacoast families are walking a fine line between having a roof over their heads and being homeless.
Who’s homeless?
Of the 1,635 homeless people in the state, 43 percent are families with children — a total of 704 people making up 258 households. Veterans account for 11 percent of the homeless population.
The data is taken from the annual point-in-time count conducted by homeless service providers each year during the last week of January. (The 2015 count was conducted on Jan. 28 and the data will be available later this year.) However, NHCEH executive director Cathy Kuhn cautions that the actual number of homeless people could be much larger.
“We have to take it for what it is. It’s good for tracking trends in homelessness, but it’s only one 24-hour period,” she said.
In Rockingham County, the 2014 point-in-time count found 168 homeless people; in Strafford County, it found 74. In both counties, families make up the majority of the homeless population.
“When you ask people to close their eyes and think of someone who’s homeless, they think of someone in a trench coat and with a shopping cart; maybe (someone with) a mental health disorder. … They’re really not thinking about families with children,” Kuhn said.
Family homelessness increased during the most recent recession, though it has been declining gradually. Between 2012 and 2014, the number of homeless families in the state dropped from 779 to 704. In that same time, the number of homeless families in the Seacoast increased from 65 to 81 in Rockingham County and 36 to 53 in Strafford county.
“We have people who are working, who may be working full time, yet they are not making enough to afford housing on the private market.”
— Cathy Kuhn of the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness
And, according to Kuhn, it’s getting harder for low-income families to afford housing.
The median income of a household renter in the Seacoast is $43,700 a year for Rockingham County and $33,506 in Strafford County. The median monthly gross rent for the two counties is $1,229 and $1,012, respectively, according to data from the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. The average income of the working poor (those who work at least 27 weeks a year and whose income still falls below the poverty line) was $7,406 in 2012. Strafford County had the lowest average income for the working poor in the state at $5,995.
“We have people who are working, who may be working full time, yet they are not making enough to afford housing on the private market. And, at the same time, the amount of housing actually available to them is just dwindling,” Kuhn said.
On the edge
It’s not just high rents — high utility rates, transportation costs, and other expenses can push people into homelessness. Finding a place that meets all of a family’s needs, such as access to transportation, is a challenge.
And it may get more challenging.
Already, rents are higher and landlords are stricter about who can sign a lease, said Erik Swanson, homeless prevention coordinator for Strafford Community Action. “Now, everybody gets a background check, everybody gets a credit check,” he said. “If you have bad credit, it’s getting harder and harder for folks to find a place.”
Advocates are also worried about a bill currently before state legislators that would allow landlords to collect first and last month’s rent and a security deposit at the signing of a lease. Currently, landlords can only collect first month’s rent and a security deposit equal to that month’s rent.
The bill “will be devastating for folks who are living on the edge, which are a lot of people,” according to Swanson. Community Action can help clients get money for security deposits, he said, but the agency’s funds are limited. “If we have to bring another $1,000 to the table, I don’t know how we’re going to do it,” he said.
Better access
In 2015, the state’s homeless service providers are transitioning over to a coordinated access model. Essentially, people who become homeless are directed to one regional location; their situation is assessed and they’re directed to services — medical providers, emergency shelters, and so on.
“For the people we serve, it prevents them from going from place to place and retelling their story again and again,” said NHCEH’s Cathy Kuhn. “It also helps us prioritize who is in the most need for services.”
It’s a model Strafford Community Action adopted almost three years ago. Before that, Parker said, the agency would serve clients on a first-come, first-served basis. It wasn’t “the best option or the best fit,” she said.
It’s not one singular event that drives a person or a family to homelessness. Economics, of course, are always a factor — a sudden decrease in wages or a lost job can push a family over the edge into homelessness. And then there are people with a mental illness or substance abuse problem; those issues can lead to homelessness, too. So can sudden illnesses or injuries and disabilities.
“Once you … no longer have a place to live, it can be demoralizing, and you can feel like you have no options,” Parker said. “Our goal is to keep you safe and housed and then work on the other issues impacting you.”
“We are typically operating at full capacity every day, year-round, not just when it’s stormy and cold.” — Martha Stone of Cross Roads House
People who simply can’t hang on to their home may find a place to stay at one of the Seacoast’s two year-round homeless shelters, Cross Roads House in Portsmouth and My Friend’s Place in Dover. Strafford County also operates a seasonal homeless shelter for women, children, an