When I talk about Fellowship Housing, many people ask me why it is necessary. The short answer is because most of our folks are asked to live on about $900 a month.
It is very difficult without help these days in Concord to provide yourself with housing, utilities and phone, food, clothing and all the other essentials of life on $900 a month. Remember, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Concord is about $1,030 a month, as listed in the latest housing statistics put out by New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority for 2018.
How can someone rent an apartment for $1,000 a month when they earn only $900? It does not work. So if Fellowship Housing and others can offer someone a decent place to live for less money than the going rate, perhaps as low as one-third of their income, that is a huge improvement in their lives.
Some people then go on to ask, “Why only $900 a month? My relative is on disability for a bad back (for example), and they get more than that.” Please let me offer my take on this.
Our tenants are seriously mentally ill. That means they have been diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar illness or some other serious and lifelong mental illness. Due to genetics and various reasons, these illnesses usually manifest themselves when people are in their late adolescence or early adulthood – just when people are starting to go out into the world and go on to further schooling or start a career or job, etc. Thus, if someone is afflicted with a mental illness – which often means (especially during the early years of the illness) multiple hospitalizations, periods of instability and experiencing acute symptoms – they are not likely to have a good work history allowing them to earn a living and pay Social Security taxes.
When it comes time to apply for disability payments, those with mental illness often have not paid much, if anything, into Social Security. The relative mentioned above with the bad back may have had a 20-, 30- or 40-year history of making a living and paying Social Security taxes prior to their disability determination. The person with more paid in will usually receive more out. The person who has not been able to pay in will get less paid out. Thus, our folks, on average, get about $900 a month.
So, I ask again: Could you live on $900 a month in the Concord area in 2019?
(Nancy Egner is the executive director of Fellowship Housing Opportunities.)