As the year starts winding down, we are excited to start one of our favorite times at Crossroads… our Annual Season of Giving. Each office celebrates a little bit differently, stay tuned for more posts on the other offices but today I want to talk about what we’re doing at Pembroke.
This year we are excited to again be collecting for the Friends Emergency Housing Program.
The goal of the Friends Emergency Housing Program is to break the cycle of homelessness for families. The program provides short-term housing, aftercare and outreach services for families at risk of future homelessness.
Emergency Housing program support for families includes:
* Financial literacy training
* Consumer credit counseling
* Resume development
* Employment assistance
* Family advocacy
* On-site parenting support and education classes
* Substance abuse referral and monitoring
* Intensive community-based case management
* Help with identifying appropriate available permanent housing
* Assistance with accessing community resources
* Life skills training
This is just one of the reasons we chose to support this program. This is from their website which you can visit at http://www.friendsprogram.org/
The need for shelter for homeless families is greater than ever and the Friends Emergency Housing Program is the only family shelter in Concord and in Merrimack County. Did you know that the average age of a homeless person is 9 years old? Finding affordable housing for the low-income families we serve is extremely difficult. In fact, not only is the affordable housing shortage impacting low-income single-parent families, but all families in the New Hampshire workforce. With the New Hampshire unemployment rate at 3%, 9% of New Hampshire households live at or below the poverty line.
The cost of rental housing in our community remains alarmingly high. The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Merrimack County is $1,176 per month, and a vacancy rate of 1.10% according to the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. This is 12.5% increase in the past 5 years.
As the only family shelter in Merrimack County, we are especially aware of the growing number of homeless children. The majority of our shelter residents are homeless children. Across the state, the number of homeless children continues to rise. In 2016 nearly half the persons experiencing homelessness in New Hampshire were families with children with 566 adults and 787 in 497 families. In our last fiscal year the Friends Emergency Housing program served 34 families: 115 people (55 children and 40 adults).
The importance of stable housing and economic security in a child’s life cannot be overstated. Homelessness influences every facet of a child’s life and its effects can be swift, severe and critical should interventions not occur. The trauma of homelessness can break families apart. Equally important, homeless adults need to be supported in their role as parents while making long-lasting positive strides to enhance family stability. The goal of our shelter program is to assist in expediting the family’s move into permanent housing, but also understand the responsibility of tending to family functioning.
If you would like to volunteer with our program, please call 603-228-1462 or email us at eh@friendsprogram.org and we would be happy to speak with you.
We will be collecting items from their wish list through December 17th. Thank you in advance for your generousity!
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