ROCHESTER — The city's Finance Committee has recommended allocating more than $300,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to help Community Action Partnership of Strafford County as it takes over management of the Home for Now homeless shelter.
Home for Now, located on Washington Street, a nonprofit organization, merged earlier this year with Strafford CAP. Betsey Andrews Parker, Strafford CAP's CEO, came to the committee to ask for funding.
American Rescue Plan Funds came to the state's cities and towns as part of a recovery plan from the COVID pandemic. City Manager Katie Ambrose told the committee the money must be allocated by the end of this year and expended by 2026.
The committee awarded the requested amount of $306,822. Final approval must come from the City Council, which will meet Aug. 16.
Andrews Parker said $800,000 is needed. She said in addition to the money from Rochester, Strafford CAP has asked for help from two other communities who use CAP services, one for $100,000 and the other for $50,000, leaving more funds still to be raised.
Andrews Parker explained the need for the funding was in part due to the timeliness of a grant Home for Now had applied for in the past, which will not be available again until after a two-year cycle.
"There was a state funding grant that Home for Now chose not to apply for this year," said Andrew Parker. "They had come in second on the ranking for the grant."
The grant would have paid $27 per bed, per night, said Andrews Parker.
"Because of the bid process we are not eligible to apply again for two years," said Andrews Parker. "Now we are in the process of fundraising."
Andrews Parker said Home for Now is open, with an availability of 32 beds. Andrews Parker said there are five adults and two children on site currently. She said they are looking at creating a cold weather emergency space for when it is full.
"This is for a family we get in need," she said. "This is not like what happens at the Willand Center. We are talking a family that we may have put up in a hotel in the past when the situation arose, a temporary fix."
"We have hired two case managers and a shelter manager," she said. "We have kept all of the support staff that was in place. We are hiring one more case manager."
While the committee supported the move by vote, there was some concern over what will happen next year.
"Will you come back to the city and ask for this money again, or do you have a plan to apply for grants and other funding sources?" asked finance committee member Kevin Sullivan.
"We are working with HUD on our plans going forward," said Andrews Parker. "We are looking for all future funding sources. Through CAP, we have a great fundraising team, who know how to adhere to all regulations. On average we already serve 19,000 residents in a year, about 5,000 households."
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