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Latest News - March 2023

3/15/2023

 

Introducing the NEW & IMPROVED Harvey Heights

​We are proud to announce the completion of LRCD's rehabilitation of Harvey Heights Apartments in Meredith. The LRCD team worked for five years to assemble the $5 million in financing needed for improvements.
 
We achieved completion at the end of 2022, bringing Harvey Heights and its 25-units up to our healthy housing standards by improving life safety systems, indoor air quality, accessibility, energy efficiency, and aesthetics.
 
Please enjoy this short virtual tour of Harvey Heights!

Eviction Prevention at LRCD

One of the ways LRCD works to address the homelessness crisis is through eviction prevention. Here at LRCD, eviction prevention means pro-active, targeted services and financial assistance to families who are at-risk of being evicted. Our goal is to stop homelessness before it happens. This is a very cost-effective way to address the crisis of homelessness.
 
Our intentional focus on eviction prevention started with the pandemic because we faced an immediate crisis with many tenants out of work or unable to work due to illness or lack of child care. We began earlier and more coordinated outreach to tenants who showed up on the collections list, in collaboration with property management. We helped tenants fill out applications to the federally funded NH Emergency Rental Assistance Program (NHERAP), which provided money to pay rental arrearages, past due utility balances, and in some cases, three months of rent going forward. In cases where someone was not eligible for NHERAP, we provided direct financial assistance from a small eviction prevention fund that we established in 2020.
 
We find this approach to be highly effective. We are very proud to say that over the course of the entire pandemic, we have not evicted anyone who is engaged with our resident services program for non-payment of rent. In 2022, we provided eviction prevention services to 207 of our tenants and direct financial assistance to 26 of those tenants.
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​When NHERAP ended in October 2022, our tenants were left with few places to turn for financial assistance, so demand on our small eviction prevention fund increased dramatically. In the past five months, we’ve provided $21,000 in financial assistance; whereas during the entire year of 2021, we only provided $14,012 in assistance.
 
Please consider donating to our eviction prevention fund today. Between ongoing pandemic instability and inflation, the situation is dire for many of our tenants. Your donation will have a big impact on a local family.

Thank you.

Housing Champion of the Month: Northpoint Engineering

“We know first-hand the great work that LRCD does in the community to address the housing crisis. We’re pleased to support an organization with a great track record doing such important work.”
— Kevin Leonard, Principal Engineer of Northpoint Engineering
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We need the financial support of our local business community in order to produce more units of affordable housing for essential workers. Most housing developments that we undertake cost us $150,000 to $300,000 before we can get a shovel in the ground.

Email CLorentz@LRcommunitydevelopers.org today if your business would like to be a Housing Champion.
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Legislative Update

The NH Legislature has been busy with a slew of housing related bills this year. Two bills with a potentially big impact are making their way through the NH Senate.

  • SB 145 establishes a New Hampshire housing champion designation program, including a housing production municipal grant program and a housing infrastructure municipal grant and loan program. The bill also establishes positions within the department of business and economic affairs to operate the program, and appropriates $29 million for the programs. This bill was passed out of the Commerce Committee and now heads to the Senate Finance Committee.

  • SB 231 is called the “housing funding bill” by advocates. It establishes a $5 million per year historic housing tax credit, and makes the following general fund appropriations for the FY24/25 biennium:
    • $8 million to the Department of Health and Human Services for homeless shelters.
    • $2 million to the Department of Health and Human Services for housing stabilization and eviction prevention.
    • $25 million to the state’s Affordable Housing Fund, which is used by NH Housing to subsidize the development of affordable housing throughout the state.
    • $30 million to the Department of Business and Economic Affairs to continue the InvestNH housing program that Governor Sununu launched last year with federal COVID relief funds.
 
As part of the Housing Action NH coalition, we expressed support for the housing funding bill and urged lawmakers to consider the following improvements to the bill:
  1. Increase funding for homeless services. DHHS requested $20 million over the biennium, which would add 853 more shelter beds in NH. SB 231 only includes enough funding for 573 new beds.
  2. Housing units built with InvestNH funds are only required to be “affordable” for five years. Housing Action NH recommends units be affordable for 20 years.
 
SB 231 was heard by the Senate Finance Committee on February 21, but has yet to be voted on at the committee level.​


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193 Court Street, Laconia, NH 03246   •   603.524.0747
© 2019 Lakes Region Community Developers

  • HOME
  • FIND A HOME
    • Rental Opportunities
    • Home Buyer Education
  • ABOUT US
    • Current & Recent Projects >
      • Gale School Fundraising
    • Faces of Affordable Housing
    • Plans & Reports
    • Leadership
    • Housing & Economy Snapshot >
      • 2020
      • 2021
    • Take the Wheel NH
    • Careers
  • CONTACT US
  • LATEST NEWS
  • RESIDENT RESOURCES
    • Resident Services >
      • Resident Handbook
    • Rental Assistance Resources
    • Adult Dental Resources
    • Take the Wheel NH
    • Raising Multi Racial Children
    • BIPOC
    • LGBTQ+ RESOURCES
    • Race Equity Resources
    • Disability Resources
    • Substance Use Disorder Resources
  • DONATE
    • Housing Champions