Shelter from the Storm in Jaffrey, which provides transitional shelter for those in need, is looking to add an apartment in the New Ipswich area.
Linda Harris, the executive director for Shelter from the Storm, met with New Ipswich Welfare Director Carrie Traffie and the New Ipswich Select Board last week to discuss the possibility.
Shelter from the Storm is an independent nonprofit, and does not need town approval to rent an apartment to use as a transitional shelter in town, Harris said, but the conversation was to keep them apprised of the possibility, and the need in New Ipswich.
Shelter from the Storm rents five apartments in the Jaffrey and Rindge areas which can be used as transitional shelters. Transitional shelters are different from emergency shelters, which are also a need the town may want to consider, Traffie said.
Emergency shelters are often used for only a short time, overnight or a few days. Transitional apartments such as the ones Shelter from the Storm provide can be used by an individual or family for several months while they access services to assist them with returning to independent living.
Shelter from the Storm provides apartments for up to eight months, and assists people with other issues such as gaining a GED, obtaining driver’s licenses or transportation or finding a job, and requires participants save 30% of their income so that when they leave the program, they have enough funds for the first month’s rent on an apartment.
Traffie said she has been in discussion with Shelter from the Storm due to an increase in the number of residents dealing with homelessness in the last two years.
According to the annual report of the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness for 2021, 4,412 individuals experienced homelessness in 2021. That’s about on par from the previous year, but the report also reflected an increase in unsheltered and chronic homelessness populations.
The unsheltered population, in particular, almost doubled during the pandemic years, with 1,082 unsheltered people in the state in 2021.
“We’ve seen so much of it. We’re trying to get creative, whether it be an emergency or transitional shelter, we see benefits from both,” Traffie said. “It’s a problem in every area. Shelters are being flooded.”
Shelter from the Storm in Jaffrey and MATS in Peterborough provide transitional shelter, but they’re the only ones in the area, said Harris. Keene provides emergency shelter, but is seeing pressure from the need from surrounding communities who don’t have their own emergency shelters.
“We’re looking at different ways to be creative going forward and take care of our own, in a way,” Traffie said.
Harris said having a transitional apartment in town would not cost the town any more than housing a resident from New Ipswich in one of their current apartments – $500 a month for a single person or $700 for a family, from the town’s welfare budget – but would have the advantage of allowing local people to stay in the area where they may have a job or children in the school district.
Traffie said recently, she has dealt with at least three situations where residents experienced homelessness and a need for shelter. One, she said, is currently at the emergency shelter in Keene. Another went to a shelter in Greenfield, and a family with children was found a hotel room in Nashua.
“I had nowhere to put people here,” Traffie said. “We’re not a super-needy town, but we still have needs.”
Select Board Chair Shawn Talbot said those situations were “not ideal” and that that town was already paying through the welfare office for those placements. He said he was in favor of a transitional apartment in town rather than “displacing” residents to other communities.
Traffie also discussed the need for an emergency or overnight shelter for emergency situations.
“We really need to have something in place, if we can,” Traffie said. “It doesn’t have to be much. Bathroom, a bed, a small kitchen, would be ideal. We might not need it all the time, either. But it would be nice to have.”
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.