Collaborating on Housing Stability
Our region’s housing issue is complex and has rippling effects for all. One telling statistic is the Cheshire County rental housing availability rate, which was 0.6% in 2022. For comparison, 5% is considered healthy. Without enough affordable, quality places to live, more people find themselves unexpectedly homeless or housing insecure, meaning they are couch surfing, moving frequently, or spending the bulk of their income on housing.
Lack of housing has further-reaching effects. This instability strains individuals and families, affecting overall health and wellbeing. And as we know from brain science, children’s learning, growth and long-term health are negatively affected by continuous stress.
The Monadnock Resource Alliance (MRA), a group of nonprofits, businesses, governmental, economic development, faith-based, and community members are playing a role in helping to solve this problem. We recognize that there is no one solution or entity that will fix the housing crisis. It will take our entire community coming together to fully understand the depth of the issue and to work side by side until this crisis is solved.
In 2022, MRA members explored ways to foster awareness and community discussion. We started with activities including:
- A bus tour of two Resident Owned Communities: Tanglewood in Keene and Forest Park in Jaffrey, which showcased affordable homeownership in vibrant neighborhoods.
- A segment on WKBK radio about affordable home ownership in the Monadnock Region.
- Outreach to local housing-related programs to determine if convening and collaborating would be helpful
- Identifying collaborative models that could work locally in the Monadnock Region
We found successful models in other parts of the state and country that have brought unlikely players to the table to break down silos, build trust and coordinate activities. These community groups often included developers, utilities, environmentalists, elected officials, faith-based organizations, hospitals, municipalities, realtors, business, philanthropy and more.
While diverse, everyone had this in common: The desire and drive to fix the housing crisis in their communities.
That same drive exists here in the Monadnock Region. MRA members are making plans to convene our community in 2023 to identify collaborations, opportunities and actions to help ensure that everyone has a safe, affordable home.
New Hampshire Housing: New Hampshire 2022 Residential Rental Cost Survey Report at nhhousing.org.
Members include:
- Center for Population Health at Cheshire Medical Center
- Cheshire County
- Greater Monadnock Collaborative
- Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship
- Individual Community Leaders
- Monadnock Economic Development Corporation
- Monadnock Interfaith Project
- Monadnock United Way
- NH Community Loan Fund
- Peterborough Economic Development Authority
- Savings Bank of Walpole
- Southwest Regional Planning Commission
- Southwestern Community Services
Community Responses to Housing Insecurity