Cross Roads House gets state funding for successful housing program
PORTSMOUTH — Cross Roads House has received state funding for a program that helps clients move from the streets into permanent housing.
The New Hampshire Executive Council approved $1.6 million Wednesday to assist Rockingham and Merrimack counties to work with people in need of housing and with landlords to find long-term solutions to housing. The contract, administered through the Department of Health and Human Services, gives the money to Cross Roads House of Portsmouth, which serves as Rockingham County's residential shelter.
Cross Roads House Executive Director Will Arvelo said the focus is on those who have been homeless for an extended period of time. He said the funding is not to start a new program, but to fund a program they have been running since 2016.
"We work on a housing first model, in partnership with the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness," Arvelo said. "We work with 28 people, about 14 from each area. The program is a four-year cycle that must be reauthorized by the state and then go through the federal government since it is part of a HUD (Housing and Urban Development) funding program."
Arvelo said participants are identified as good candidates through the agencies' case managers.
"We work with landlord to get people into a rental," he said. "It does not stop there. People often think just finding housing meets all the needs, but it doesn't work that way. We stay with the people to assure that the other things that stand in their way of success get addressed, things such as healthcare, mental health services, and financial education come into play. We develop good relationships with the landlords we work with and help the tenants to do the same. Landlords want good tenants and we want our candidates to fit that bill."
Arvelo said the clients they work with represent a diverse population, but the common factor is they have been on the streets for a long time.
"It takes time for some of them to acclimate to being inside," he said. "They need to get into the groove of living inside, of following rules. Our staying with them helps to achieve that goal."
One of the fastest growing homeless populations is people over 50. Arvelo said many are living on fixed incomes and cannot keep up with the ever-rising cost of rents.
"Many are paying 50-70% of their income on rent, when the suggested median is 30%," he said.
Arvelo said he thinks the program's success rate, measured by people staying in their new homes for at least a year, is about 90%. And they have a wait list of people wanting to get involved.
Sandy Beaudry, program manager for the housing programs at Cross Roads said they mostly serve single individuals in this case, and if they qualify for other programs such as section 8, they are moved out of this program and into that, freeing the way to bring in new people in need of a home.
"Each year we look at the number of people served, and how many remain housed at the end of the grant year," she said. "The average is 81-94%, with 81 being the lowest and 88% being the average."
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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Cross Roads House gets state funding for successful housing program
