A former military barracks turned apartment complex will turn a new leaf in Concord, as a developer and nonprofit plan to add more than a dozen units to a corner of New Hampshire’s housing market that sorely needs them.
Fundraising has begun for Eastern Avenue Supportive Living, a home for adults with developmental disabilities just off Loudon Road. It’s a joint mission of the Concord Area Trust for Community Housing, or CATCH, and Community Bridges, the disability services provider.
“We think it’s a great partnership because CATCH develops real estate, but we do not provide services. Community Bridges provides services, but they don’t develop real estate,” said Tom Furtado, president and CEO of CATCH. “So, we put our heads together and said, ‘Let’s do a project together.'”
Disability advocates and developers all say New Hampshire needs more housing that allows adults with developmental disabilities to live in a supportive environment while also maintaining their independence.
“There is just a huge need for this kind of housing,” said Laurie McIntosh, a retired occupational therapist from Dover who is starting a similar home on the Seacoast after struggling to find options for her two sons. “All of us who are in our 60s, 70s and 80s are getting too old to take care of our kids.”
CATCH already owns the property at 30 Eastern Ave. It’s the first one the nonprofit developer ever purchased, in 1989. The two-story, 14-apartment complex was built in 1945 and was originally a military barracks building, Furtado said, but now it has “come to the end of its useful life.”
In preparing to demolish it, Furtado said he’s spent the past year relocating tenants there to other CATCH properties.
In its place will rise a new building with roughly 17 units, all affordable, with rent calculated by each resident’s income. One or two units will be for live-in caretakers.
Each resident will have an apartment of their own with a bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom. Common spaces are being included to build a “sense of community,” Furtado said. The design details will be heavily influenced by Community Bridges, which will provide care and services to residents who need them.
“It’s going to depend on the actual clientele who ends up occupying these apartments,” Furtado said. “Some may need it, some may not, and that’s really going to be up to Community Bridges and the individuals and their families to determine, but we want to provide the facility to be able to do that.”
The project is getting financial support from InvestNH 2.0, a state-run grant program that assists development of affordable housing across New Hampshire.
CATCH’s portion, $280,000, will cover just a fraction of the cost, which will total several million dollars, Furtado said. He’s applied for $953,000 in federal funding through Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s office, and is still piecing together the rest of the funding.
Another housing option for people with disabilities, Next Step Living, opened in downtown Concord last year.
‘This population exists’
Most adults with developmental disabilities live with family caregivers.
In many families, however, those caregivers — often parents — are getting older.
Laurie McIntosh is one of them. Her two sons, both in their 30s, have disabilities. As she ages, she worries about who will care for them when she’s gone.
“There are people with developmental disabilities in every community. They’re sort of well-hidden right now because their parents are doing a great job of taking care of them,” McIntosh said. “But when their parents are no longer here, they’re still in the community, and the community needs to recognize that this population exists.”
In her own search, she has found limited options and mile-long waitlists, so she decided to try to build a place for families like hers. She founded and is the board chair for Our Place NH, a nonprofit and supportive home aiming to open 11 units for people with developmental disabilities on the Seacoast.
“In the same way that we make sure that there’s housing for seniors and day care for little kids, it’s important that there is housing and supportive housing for this population, or it’s just going to become a problem,” McIntosh said.
