Safe Spaces II Campaign Helps Concord Coalition to End Homelessness Fund Purchase of Apartment Building on Green Street, Concord, NH
Merrimack County Savings Bank (the Merrimack) has pledged a contribution of $75,000 to the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH). The funds will be spread over three years, in support of CCEH’s Safe Spaces II Campaign.
Safe Spaces II will allow CCEH to purchase the building on Green Street in downtown Concord, NH, and renovate it into four apartments. The apartments will serve as safe and supportive housing for people exiting homelessness, who previously lived in shelters, cars and the woods. Contributions to Safe Space II will also keep the organization’s essential programs, including the Concord Homeless Resource Center, Emergency Winter Shelter and Housing First Concord, operating for another three years, while providing seed money for future projects.
The Merrimack also assisted in Safe Spaces I with a $110,000 tax credit purchase in 2017 to help fund CCEH’s Emergency Winter Shelter. The Emergency Winter Shelter, which first opened during the 2018-2019 winter season, is a low barrier shelter that allows those in need to sleep inside during dangerously cold winter months. The tax credits, administered through the Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA), allow businesses to fund qualifying economic or community development projects in exchange for a tax credit that can be applied against state business tax payments.
“We’re proud to support the tireless work of the Concord Coalition to End Homeless,” said Linda Lorden, President of Merrimack County Savings Bank. “We commend and stand behind CCEH’s goal of ending homelessness in Concord because the Bank believes– as they do — that every person has value and deserves dignity. CCEH advocates and offers resources and protection for our community’s most vulnerable people, and they serve as a wonderful role model for us all. We are thankful for all that CCEH has accomplished and commit to continuing our support for them as they come closer to their goal of eliminating homelessness in Concord.”
“We are so grateful for the Merrimack’s incredible generosity and their commitment to the well-being of all members of our community,” said Ellen Groh, Executive Director of the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness. “CCEH is committed to ending homelessness because we know that it is absolutely possible. By ending homelessness, our community has the services in place to prevent it from happening. Crucial to this system is providing permanent supportive housing for the most vulnerable people experiencing long-term homelessness in our community.”
For more information about CCEH’s Safe Spaces II campaign, visit concordhomeless.org/safe-spaces-campaign-2.
CCEH was founded in 2008, and is committed to addressing the causes of long-term homelessness. They advocate for, and provide support to individuals experiencing homelessness in the greater Concord, NH community. CCEH operates the Concord Homeless Resource Center at the Tom Fredenburg House and the Emergency Winter Shelter, both located at 238 N. Main St. in Concord. Through their Housing First Concord program, CCEH helps place people exiting long-term homelessness in permanent supportive housing. CCEH leads the City of Concord’s Steering Committee for their Plan to End Homelessness. For more information about the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness, visit concordhomeless.org.