Food, housing costs & utilities bills are the big concerns
Karen Moynihan is the Vice President of Philanthropy, Catholic Charities New Hampshire, which provides a variety of services including food distribution through the New Hampshire Food Bank. See cc-nh.org.
What have you noticed about the community’s needs right now and over the last year?
We have more people coming to us looking for assistance than we have in the past — even more so than when the pandemic first hit in 2020 and continued into 2021. So people are struggling, and the primary reason is threefold: the cost of food has increased, utility costs in New Hampshire are some of the highest in the country, and the cost of housing. So people are having a hard time maintaining their monthly budgets when everything around them just keeps going up and up. We have more people coming to us for emergency assistance and really urgent needs. They’re really one paycheck away from disaster.
What items can people give?
There are two programs that can take donated items: We have a veterans program here in Manchester, Liberty House, and they have a pantry that provides food and clothing and gear. A lot of our veteran population in Manchester is homeless. So they need camping gear and warm clothing and things like that. They list on their website what their needs are for the pantry; those could change on any given day. The other program we have is out at the Seacoast, and it’s a transitional housing program for moms and children called New Generation. These moms and children are usually homeless, they don’t have a job, and they’ve experienced trauma of some sort. Many of them have left abusive relationships. They may come in with some addiction challenges. They may come in without a driver’s license or crucial documentation because they had to leave a situation quickly. The program works with these moms for about a year getting them back on their feet. … By the time they leave the program, they have a job, they have child care, and they have an affordable place to stay. Anyway, there is a thrift store on site that takes donations of all kinds, because when those women leave that program, they also need household items. So folks can donate household items or clothing to the thrift store. They need everything from children’s clothing to adult clothing to bedding to kitchen items, things like that. So that’s another wonderful way to donate either gently used or new items.
What can monetary gifts be used for?
Monetary donations allow us the flexibility to quickly deploy resources for the most urgent needs. Oftentimes we can keep people in their homes by helping them get caught up on a utility bill, or helping them with a car repair that they can’t afford because they’re going to be evicted if they don’t pay their rent. There are just so many enormous challenges that people are facing right now, and they are literally on the verge of losing the most important things — housing, food, medications.
Where are volunteers needed most?
We have one program here in Manchester that is in urgent need of volunteers. It’s called Caregivers and this is a program for seniors on low fixed incomes who are just slightly above the poverty level. These seniors no longer drive and they need help to be able to continue to live independently in their homes. There are two things that Caregivers does for this network of seniors: they do deliveries of food to them — every senior gets a delivery of food once a month — and we give them rides to doctor’s appointments or the grocery store, whatever their needs are. These volunteers are sometimes the only connection to the outside world that these seniors have. They often don’t have family or relatives nearby to help them, so this is a critical resource for them.
How can people find the right volunteering opportunity?
Visit the Catholic Charities website click on the “Get involved” button. This section lists various volunteer opportunities. Choose what inspires you the most. You can sign up or learn more about each opportunity directly through the website. If you have any questions or need guidance, you can always call our office and speak with our volunteer coordinator.
How to help
Here are some of New Hampshire homelessness and housing support charities.
- Cross Roads House 600 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, 436-2218, crossroadshouse.org
- Families in Transition 122 Market St., Manchester, 641-9441, fitnh.org
- Family Promise of Greater Concord 79 Clinton St., Concord, 856-8490, familypromisegcnh.org.
- Family Promise of Southern New Hampshire 3 Crown St., Building B, Nashua, 883-7338, familypromisesnh.org
- Friends Program 130 Pembroke Road, Suite 200, Concord, 228-1193
- Liberty House 221 Orange St., Manchester, 669-0761, libertyhousenh.org
- New Generation 568 Portsmouth Ave., Greenland, 436-4989, newgennh.org
- New Horizons Shelter 199 Manchester St., Manchester, 668-1877, newhorizonsnh.org
- Harbor Care 77 Northeastern Blvd., Nashua, 882-3616, harborcarenh.org
- Marguerite’s Place 87 Palm St., Nashua, 598-1582, margueritesplace.org
- McKenna House 100 S. Fruit St., Concord, 225-8610
- My Friend’s Place 368 Washington St., Dover, 749-3017
- The Way Home 214 Spruce St., Manchester, 627-3491
Featured photo: Liberty House in Manchester, a program of Catholic Charities. Courtesy photo.