City Councilor Jim Schlosser is hoping Concord will take a step forward in the city’s response to end homelessness and hire a paid program manager. 

The request comes with caution – “It’s early in this work.” 

The city’s steering committee on the plan to end homelessness is proposing a new two-year position to help coordinate the work of their five focus areas – ending veterans’ homelessness, creating a common operating system, engaging the community, increasing housing and reducing unsheltered homelessness. 

In a city with a budget of $170 million, the committee is hoping that the $175,000 in funding for the position will come from a third party, though.

Mayor Byron Champlin has been in conversation with a nonprofit that would either fund the position or provide staff for it, he said at a steering committee meeting this week.

If this funding source does not come to fruition – Champlin declined to say who the nonprofit was at the meeting – Schlosser is not clear on what the committee will do, he said.

“I’m not sure this is the time to ask for funding, especially if we can get it funded through third parties or something, that would be better,” he said. “At some point we may need to go back to the city to ask for resources.”

Specific funding for homelessness in Concord lies within human services, the police department and general expenses for social service agencies.

In 2025, the operating budget has $358,700 for special programs in human services – which includes rental and housing assistance, a $130,000 increase from last year.

Several agencies receive some support from the city, totaling $320,000 – including the Community Action Program, Concord Area Transit, the Crisis Center of Central New Hampshire, the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness, the McKenna House, the Friendly Kitchen and the Friends Program.

Each agency submitted an annual request for funding, with the Community Action Program, Concord Area Transit and the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness receiving less than what they asked for, amounting to $12,290 total.

Last year, the city also added a police social worker position, which participates in direct outreach with people experiencing homelessness, and added a second social worker position in this most recent budget. The salary for these positions are not itemized in the budget.

To Schlosser, there are several funding streams to address homelessness from housing and mental health support at the city, county and state levels. Tracking this spending though, proves more of an issue.

“We don’t really have a good map of that funding and there’s not really effective alignment among the different agencies, departments and organizations that work on this issue,” he said. “Before going for more funds it behooves us to demonstrate that we can work together, to collaborate and use the funds currently being allocated effectively.”

The project manager would help “align the efforts of government and not-for-profit organizations to achieve ongoing reductions,” according to a draft of the job posting.

The proposed budget for the job includes $175,000 – an annual salary set at $75,000 and $25,000 for listening and engagement initiatives.

The proposal includes three training workshops, two “sense-making sessions” and a stipend to support five people who have lived experience with homelessness to serve as trained researchers.

Collaboration is also a key part of the initiative – with funding for six meetings professionally facilitated and two “homeless systems improvement summits” where the project manager would be responsible for reporting on committee progress and lessons learned.

Since 2012, the Committee for Concord’s Plan to End Homelessness has convened city leaders, nonprofits, service providers and businesses in Concord – alongside members of the public – to talk about solutions for addressing homelessness in the city.

Like all city boards and commissions, the group is comprised of volunteers.

The project manager role will allow the committee to have “someone who is only thinking about this and is not trying to juggle other organizational requirements,” said Rosanne Haggerty, the committee chair and founder and CEO of Community Solutions, a national nonprofit that helps communities look for solutions to end homelessness.

The steering committee’s work is also supported by new two-year city council priorities which were adopted in January, which focus on strengthening a coordinated response to homelessness in Concord.

This focus comes at a time when national attention is on homelessness, with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Grants Pass v. Johnson, allowing municipalities to fine individuals for sleeping outside, even if shelter beds are unavailable.

In Manchester, Mayor Jay Ruias adopted a $250 fine for individuals who violate city camping ordinances. In Concord, Champlin said he does not imagine the city enforcing such measures.

Yet encampments continue to be broken up downtown by Concord police – including one along the train tracks on North Main Street. Residents in these camps said they have nowhere else to go.

To Schlosser, if the program manager can help lead the committee’s work without city funding, future requests will be more fruitful.

“If we can demonstrate powerful collaboration any request to anybody, whether it’s the city, the state, the county, nonprofits, any request will be much stronger,” he said. “If we just jump to say, ‘oh, let’s spend some money and fix this problem,’ I think it might be premature.”

Michaela Towfighi can be reached at mtowfighi@cmonitor.com.