Will Arvelo brings housing rights message to daily vigil: 'We have to come together'

PORTSMOUTH — Will Arvelo, executive director of Cross Roads House, is staging a daily morning vigil throughout the fall to raise awareness on the issue of homelessness.

Arvelo, accompanied by his dog, is making a public point about the region’s housing needs each morning in Market Square at a time when his agency’s shelter is seeing a continued demand.

“A thriving community provides a place for all,” reads a sign he posts for Congress Street passersby to see.

“To me it’s about the much bigger picture,” Arvelo said. “It’s not just about homelessness. This is about creating communities that really include every one of us. We need the artists. We need the teachers. We need the people who work in retail and hospitality. If you take all of that out, you really don’t have a community.”

Arvelo is taking a vocal role in his leadership of Cross Roads House, a nonprofit transitional shelter and social services organization in Portsmouth on Lafayette Road that celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022. Before he took over Cross Roads in 2021, Arvelo served as Great Bay Community College's president and director of New Hampshire’s Division of Economic Development.

Every weekday, from 8 a.m. until 9 a.m., he's bringing his message downtown and meeting people face to face.

Arvelo experienced homelessness himself

In Phoenix in the 1980s, Arvelo, who moved west from New York City to study to become a motorcycle mechanic, fell on hard times that led to a brief period of homelessness. After running out of money while still taking classes, he was locked out of his apartment and resorted to living in his car despite the high desert temperatures.

The future housing leader ended up staying with a classmate and their family for a few weeks. Today, he still remembers his primary concerns about food, safety and shelter while he was homeless.

“We have to work on the stigma. If it happened to me, it can happen to anyone,” he says. “All it takes is running out of money.”

Arvelo is hearing stories about struggles during his daily vigil

Arvelo has been at his public campaign for six weeks. He has spoken with homeless people and heard from those on the brink of being forced out of their living spaces.

One Maine resident stopped him two weeks ago to share her experience of near-homelessness. After her husband walked out on her and her family, she told Arvelo, money became tight and she chose not to pay her $140 car registration fee so she could pay housing and food costs. That decision led to her being pulled over by police and fined $120, putting her into further financial burden.

In those difficult times, she told Arvelo, she was not evicted because her longtime landlord never raised her rent. But now, the woman’s two adult sons live with her because of how expensive housing costs have become.

“That just struck a chord,” Arvelo said.

Arvelo brings along his 1-year-old rescue dog Piper Lea each day, not just to attract more people to his cause but to highlight how the dog was given a second shot at a good life. He believes new opportunities should be the standard for all people who experience housing instability.

“I really believe at some point, we have to figure out how we shift our thinking as a society to really include all of us in the community,” he said. “It’s a moral issue. It’s a human rights issue.”

Cross Roads House's waitlist never ends

At Cross Roads House, beds are always filled, as the shelter is always at capacity. The organization’s waitlist is broken into three categories for men, women and families.

At last count, 48 women, 28 men and 39 families were on the agency’s waitlist for temporary shelter. Cross Roads House, according to Arvelo, is seeing an uptick in families, first-time homeless people, and people over the age of 50 years seeking services.

Local trends match the bigger picture. In March, the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority’s statewide housing needs assessment reported the state needs 60,000 more housing units built through 2030 to meet current demand. Through 2040, that number increases to 90,000 units.

In addition, a point-in-time count conducted in the winter found that on one night in January, there were 2,441 people experiencing homelessness throughout New Hampshire, WMUR reported.

“If you don’t have stability in your lives, how do you thrive? How do you work?” Arvelo asked. “How do you educate yourself? How are you contributing to your community? It starts with these very basic things like food security and housing security. If you don’t have those, then it’s really hard to move on.”

Arvelo calls for people to stop opposing housing and take positive action

Arvelo aims to converse with the public about how to shift their attitudes toward the unhoused population. Arvelo believes NIMBY-ism (not in my backyard) by people who oppose housing projects in their neighborhoods cannot be tolerated. He believes municipalities, developers, businesses, nonprofits and governments need to work together to identify avenues to create more housing.

Arvelo said advocacy goes beyond financially contributing to causes that support the creation of affordable housing units. Voicing support for more housing, he said, can be achieved by volunteering, self-education on housing issues and attending municipal planning and zoning board meetings.

“I know it’s not going to change overnight but we have to come together as people who care,” he said. “Nonprofits, state government, business and industry need to come together. I think this is the biggest challenge we are facing as a state.”

“I think we’re in a very dangerous place and we have to find ways to address this,” he added. “It takes all of us.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Cross Roads' Will Arvelo brings housing rights message to daily vigil