Volunteers with the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness were hard at work Friday, moving bunk beds, bedding and air filters into the back offices of First Congregational Church of Concord. The church building is the new venue for the organization’s emergency winter shelter, which will serve as a safe space for people who are unhoused on cold nights.
The Coalition to End Homelessness purchased the church property at 177 North Main St. this week, hoping the larger space will allow them to fit 40 beds in the space while maintaining some social distancing, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. At its regular winter shelter location at 238 North Main St., the coalition had to reduce the number of beds to 20 during the pandemic.
“It’s such an incredible relief that we are back up to our regular capacity during this terrible time,” said Ellen Groh, the organization’s executive director.
The new space will sleep six to eight guests per room, but Groh says this is an improvement on the former venue, where all the beds were in one big room.
“It will be so much safer for everyone in terms of controlling the spread if somebody does get sick,” Groh said.
Beginning in January, the church space will also house the daytime resource center, where people who are unhoused can take showers, do laundry, use the internet and get assistance from volunteers and case managers. While currently only 12 people at a time can access the daytime center, due to social distancing protocols, the First Church venue will be able to serve 40 to 50 people per day.
The Coalition to End Homelessness began looking for a larger space for the winter shelter last spring, anticipating COVID-19 would still be a danger this winter, according to Groh. The organization applied for and was granted CARES Act funds to purchase the church through a shelter modification grant that is being administered by New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. Because the funding had to be used by the end of December, the church congregation had to work quickly with the coalition to make the transfer happen.
“They were incredibly accommodating to try and make this happen because they saw the value it would have for people in Concord,” Groh said. “They really went above and beyond to accommodate that very rapid time frame.”
The emergency winter shelter will be located at the First Church through 2022 or until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, once the overnight shelter and the daytime center can safely move back to headquarters, the coalition is interested in renovating the historic building to turn it into affordable apartments.
“Our long-term hope is to keep the historic part of the building intact on the outside and create apartments to address the incredible shortage of housing and affordable housing in Concord,” Groh said.
The emergency winter shelter at the First Congregational Church at 177 North Main St. is open every night from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., December through March.