We highlighted the Pine Hill Solar Project in our May newsletter http://www.lrcommunitydevelopers.org/latestnews/archives/05-2020. This month, we wanted to highlight one of the funders of that project, Mainstay Technologies.
 
Mainstay Technologies supported the project via their donor advised fund at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Mainstay created its donor advised fund to make its corporate giving more intentional. To make an even bigger impact, Mainstay matches employee contributions into the fund and makes additional corporate contributions.

Mainstay's “charity team” is composed of the CEO and five team members from various aspects of Mainstay’s operation. CEO Ryan Barton shared, "Giving is an incredible opportunity to invest in our communities. As a team, we see it as stewardship – we choose a focus and then look (with our friends at the NH Charitable Foundation) for wonderful nonprofits to partner with. We give in a focused way, expecting clear results. Seeing lives changed as a result of our collective giving is inspiring to us all! For each of us should measure our true success by our impact on people."

Over the last few years, Mainstay has focused its charitable giving on projects that help children and families in the Granite State and promote environmental sustainability. The Pine Hill Solar project aligned with this focus by eliminating electricity costs for families and reducing carbon emissions.
 
To learn more about Mainstay's charitable efforts please read this feature in the New Hampshire Business Review.

As you may have seen in the news, in late July, the Save Our Gale School group (SOGS) successfully moved the 1894 Gale School building onto a new site on Concord Street in Belmont Village. It was a massive community effort over many decades to save this beautiful historic building. We congratulate SOGS and their many partners, funders, and supporters in achieving this amazing feat!
 
We are honored and excited that SOGS asked us to redevelop this beloved historic building. Our initial concept is that the Gale School will be a community facility housing a daycare and other services needed in the region. We are in the very early stages of our process. Right now, we are forming our design team and applying for grants to help pay for pre-development work, including architecture, engineering, and historic consultant services.
 
Our goal is to complete initial plans for redevelopment this winter, and then to assemble the financing necessary for construction, ideally by the end of 2021. If all goes well, we may be able to start construction in 2022.
 
We will post periodic updates on our website and include them in our newsletter so that you can follow our progress.

Check out this drone video of the building being moved captured by Bruce Atkinson.

If you know someone struggling to pay their mortgage or rent because of Covid-19, please tell them about the NH Housing Relief Fund, which can provide one-time grants and ongoing assistance to help keep NH families housed.

                   $185,000 in NH Business Tax Credits Available
 
We moved into 193 Court Street, Laconia last summer, but the renovations are not done! Last, year, we did all the work we could afford to do to convert the vacant building into our headquarters and the hub of our community building & engagement work in Laconia. The items still left to do include: more insulation, new siding on the north and west walls, parking lot improvements, and landscaping. If your business pays NH business enterprise or business profits taxes in NH, you can redirect a significant portion of your tax liability to a local project like this. Please contact Carmen at CLorentz@LRcommunitydevelopers.org if you are interested in supporting the 193 Court Street Project.

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging us to work in new and different ways, but it has not dampened our resolve for the Lakes Region to be a place where everyone has a healthy home and is empowered to succeed. We would have unveiled our 2019 Impact Report last month at our Lakes Region Housing & Economy Snapshot event, which unfortunately we had to postpone (stay tuned for us to present a virtual edition of that event to you soon). We hope you can take a few minutes to read about all the new things we did last year. Our challenge will be to continue this momentum in an uncertain and ever-changing environment. We know we can do it with your continued support and partnership.

Click here to see our 2019 Impact Report.

For 26 years, Lakes Region Community Developers has developed healthy rental homes. We define a healthy home as one that is energy-efficient and affordable. Despite the fact that we offer high quality rental homes at rents that our less fortunate neighbors can manage, many of our residents still struggle to pay for basic needs every month. Three years ago, we began an initiative to add solar to as many of our apartment buildings as possible to reduce or eliminate electric bills for our residents while also doing something good for the environment.

Our third solar project in three years has just been completed at six of our nine Pine Hill duplexes. Pine Hill was one of the first properties that we redeveloped in Laconia back in the 1990s.  Until now, the families at Pine Hill paid for electricity separately from their rent. Now with the installed solar system, we are able to include electricity in the monthly rent. Residents will be able to budget more successfully knowing they won't have a fluctuating electric bill.
 
We are extremely grateful to the Thomas W. Haas Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the New Hampshire Public Utility Commission, and Mainstay Technologies for providing the funds to make this project possible.

ReVision Energy designed and installed the Pine Hill Solar system.

The COVID-19 pandemic is scary, and it’s natural to feel overwhelmed by what is going on. Unfortunately, the reality is that things will get a lot worse in the coming weeks and months, and many people in our communities are going to need help. The good news is that there are things you can do today to change the course of the pandemic and help our community get through it.

1. Social Distancing: This is by far the most important thing you can do to help our community, not to mention to protect yourself and your family. Please share these resources with anyone you know who is skeptical about having to stay home.
   
   Why outbreaks of coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to “flatten the curve” –Washington Post
   
   Social Distancing: This is not a snow day – Medium.com
   
   COVID-19 is different from flu, and we must respond differently - CNN
   
   
2. Food Supports: Donate to a Got Lunch organization in your town and to your local food pantry.
   
   Yesterday, the Governor announced that schools are closed, but that they will distribute food to families whose children participate in their school’s food programs. We know that local Got Lunch! organizations have been mobilizing to distribute groceries to families during this crisis. Both will be a big help to families who are losing income due to the pandemic.
   
   Food pantries will help elderly or disabled residents of low-income and families who don’t have a Got Lunch program in their town.
   
   You can also offer to go get groceries for your relatives and neighbors who are over the age of 60 or have underlying health problems. These people should be self-isolating at home – it is dangerous for them to go anywhere.
   
   
3. Support Local Businesses: You can stay home while still spending money at your favorite local businesses by buying gift certificates to use later. The vast majority of businesses in our region and state are small and locally owned and they will be hit hard by this crisis. The more we support them, the more they can support their employees during this difficult time.

 
The days ahead will be challenging. But we are not helpless in the face of this pandemic. Each of us has the power change the course of history with our choices over the coming weeks and months. There is a strong spirit of generosity and community here in the Lakes Region – we have a lot of practice giving back and helping out! So I know that, while we may all experience sadness in the days to come, we will also feel moments of great hope as we work together to overcome this unprecedented challenge.
 
Yours in hope and community,
 
Carmen R. Lorentz

On February 5th, 70+ people helped us celebrate the completion of our first supportive housing project, Compass House.

Compass House is a group home for women in recovery that is operated by Horizons Counseling Center in partnership with Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region.

This project was financed by New Hampshire Housing. Stewart Associates Architects was the project architect and  Martini Northern was the general contractor. In addition to state funds, Compass House received rebates from NH Saves Home Energy Assistance through Liberty Gas. The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation, Annette P. Schmitt Trust, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and Eversource provided grants for furnishings, which were provided at a discount by DCI Furniture of Lisbon, NH.

We'd like to thank all the partners and supporters that made Compass House possible and all who attended its opening.

Union Bank has generously pledged to purchase $20,000 of our CDFA tax credits to support our Harriman HIll Homes development in Wolfeboro. Harriman Hill Homes will be a development of 20 affordable starter homes for families who make between 75% and 120% of median income (roughly $52,000 to $83,000 for a family of four).

$44,000 in NH State Business Tax Credits Available
Help Us Build Affordable Starter Homes in Wolfeboro
 
Please consider purchasing NH business tax credits from Lakes Region Community Developers to help build Harriman Hill Homes, a development of 20 affordable starter homes on Beck Drive off Route 109-A. You can redirect a significant portion of your business enterprise or business profits tax liability to this project by purchasing tax credits. Thanks to a generous pledge by The Common Man Family of Restaurants, your tax credit purchase of any amount will go twice as far.
 
Contact Carmen Lorentz at (603) 524-0747 ext. 110 or CLorentz@LRcommunitydevelopers.org for more details.

We are excited to introduce you to Juli Marshall, our new Program Assistant.

Juli is a longtime resident of the Lakes Region and has been working in Marketing and Sales for the last seven years. She has worked with a wide variety of businesses and non-profits in the region and across the state. Juli describes her desire to join LRCD, "I want to use my skills to support the mission of LRCD because I know that the residents of our communities are what make our communities thrive."

Juli will work to support Real Estate Development projects and Asset Management.

Kristy Pearce, our Resident Services Coordinator, has completed a campaign promoting Granite United Way's Volunteer Tax Assistance Program (VITA).

Seven reasons to stop using dryer sheets and fabric softener:

1. Wool dryer balls are designed to take the place of dryer sheets and fabric softener. Most conventional fabric softeners and dryer sheets contain artificial fragrances and ingredients that are known to cause and/or exacerbate existing respiratory and asthmatic irritations and problems. These ingredients are toxic and harmful to anyone, not just people with existing problems.
2. Fabric softeners coat fibers making clothes and towels harder to clean because they build up with the fabric softener.
3. Wool dryer balls reduce drying time.
   
4. Soften clothes for up to 1000 loads of laundry – depending on how much laundry you do, that’s probably at least 3 years!
5. NO waste, eco-friendly.
6. They shouldn’t contain any dyes or perfumes.
7. Wool is biodegradable and naturally antimicrobial – nothing is added to make them antimicrobial.
8. If you love your fabric softener and dryer sheets and love that scent that’s associated with clean laundry, you can use essential oils right on your wool balls and customize your scent!

For more information click here.

Our vision is a community where everyone has a healthy home and is empowered to succeed. I think we can all agree that there is much work to be done in order to achieve this lofty goal. As a new year begins, we are grateful for the many partners, businesses, and local residents who were part of our journey last year. Your support and engagement made our work possible.

We are excited for the challenges that 2020 will bring. On the real estate development side, we continue diversifying the types of projects we build to respond to changing needs in the community. In February, we will turn the keys of Compass House, our first supportive housing project, over to Horizons Counseling Center. This spring, we will work with Lakes Region Community Services to plan another supportive housing project.
 
Also in spring, we hope to break ground on our first development of affordable starter homes in Wolfeboro. We will wrap up our complete renovation of the 40-unit Ames Brook Apartments (aka, Ledgewood Estates) in Ashland by fall. And we will continue working throughout most of the year to assemble the financing needed to do a complete renovation at the 25-unit Harvey Heights (aka, Deer Run) in Meredith.
 
In addition to developing healthy and affordable homes for people who live and work here year-round, we are creating new programs that empower residents to succeed. Over the next few months, we will work with our pilot cohort of participants in an affordable car loan program to help overcome barriers to reliable transportation. We are creating and formalizing partnerships for a wraparound eviction prevention program to keep families stably housed during times of crisis. And we are crafting a dental assistance program to help very low-income residents afford restorative dental care, which is something that holds people back from pursing a better job or being more active in their community.
 
While we have laid out ambitious goals for 2020, we are bolstered by the knowledge that many of you in our community will respond to requests for advice, partnership, and funding. We cannot do this work without our community behind us. Thank you for your continued support.
 
Best wishes in 2020,
Carmen R. Lorentz

As the 2020 legislative session gets underway in New Hampshire, we are paying close attention to two bills that could have a big impact on housing and community development in the Lakes Region:
 
HB 1632: Among many things, this bill enables municipalities to use Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to encourage the development of workforce housing. TIF has only been used in NH for commercial development up to this point. The way TIF works is that towns and cities can establish TIF districts to capture future tax revenue from within the district and set it aside to pay the debt service on infrastructure for the district. If this bill becomes law, municipalities will be able to use TIF to finance construction of road, water, and sewer infrastructure for development of workforce housing, which could provide a powerful new tool to lower the cost of developing affordable housing.
 
HB 1224: This bill appropriates $850,000 per year for two years to the Lakeshore Redevelopment Planning Commission, which is the entity tasked with planning for the future redevelopment of the Laconia State School property. Over the past few years, the Commission has steadily worked its way through a variety of planning and environmental studies needed for redevelopment to occur. Funding is now needed to leverage grants to remediate hazardous materials in the buildings on the site and begin construction of infrastructure that will facilitate future redevelopment.

Join us Wednesday, February 5th at 1 pm to cut the ribbon and officially open the doors of Compass House. We can not wait to show you how we have transformed 658 Union Avenue in Laconia into a group home for women in recovery that will be operated by Horizons Counseling Center in partnership with Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region.

The event will offer light refreshments, tours, and a brief program featuring remarks by NH Housing Finance Authority, Horizons Counseling Center, and Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region.

RSVPs are required so please click here to reserve your spot. Parking is limited, parking instructions will be provided to you after you RSVP.

Belknap Landscape has generously pledged to purchase $10,000 of our CDFA tax credits to support our Harriman HIll Homes development in Wolfeboro. Harriman Hill Homes will be a development of 20 affordable starter homes for families who make between 75% and 120% of median income (roughly $52,000 to $83,000 for a family of four).

LRCD still needs to sell $94,000 in NH business tax credits by March 30, 2020 in order to build Harriman Hill Homes. If your business pays the NH Business Profits or Business Enterprise tax, you can direct a significant portion of your tax obligation to this project rather than sending it to Concord. Click here for more information.

The residents at Ames Brook in Ashland got together, spread some holiday cheer, and got a surprise visit from Santa!

We know it is an odd time of year to talk about forest fire prevention but with fires still burning in Australia we decided there is never a bad time.

Each year in the United State there are more than 100,000 wildfires that burn, on average, between four to five million acres of land. Wildfires can be caused by natural forces such as lighting, but more frequently they are caused by humans. Approximately four out of every five wildfires are started by humans. Below are some things we can do to help prevent wildfires:

1. Comply with all fire restrictions - before you burn, check with local authorities and get the appropriate permit if required.
2. Don't leave a fire unsupervised - fires can get out of control quickly
3. Be able to put out a fire - if you start a fire make sure you have the ability to put it out.
4. If you smoke, be responsible - cigarettes are among the most common ways that people accidentally start wildfires. Extinguish your cigarettes properly and DON'T EVER throw them out the window of a car.
5. Observe the weather - Forest fires are more likely to start if the weather has left an area hot and dry. Wind can also be a factor.
6. Quickly call for help - If a fire starts to get out of control, immediately call 9-1-1