Concord Monitor – Concord Supportive Housing Works to Meet Mental Health Needs Amid High Demand

In one corner of the room is a collection of perfume bottles and jewelry, while on the other side is a towering stack of DVDs. The walls are covered in artwork and paintings, framing a neatly made bed with neatly tucked in sheets.

This is Denise DeLew’s sanctuary, not in her own home, but in a residence for people recovering from mental illness, where the space is carefully organized, so much so that you would never guess it was It wasn’t his.

She even has a small table next to the bed that has tobacco leaves so she can roll her own cigarettes.

“I really like it here! I don’t want to move,” DeLew said, her eyes darting around the room as she realized her dream of having a space tailored to her preferences. “It’s easier for me than when I lived with my mother.”

She found this shelter through Fellowship Housing Opportunities, a transitional housing program in Concord.

DeLew shares this group home with 12 people, all receiving around-the-clock support as they recover from mental illness. Having left hospital psychiatric care, they now strive to live independently.

The Chesley Street shelter where DeLew lives is the community residence with the highest level of care or attention in the scholarship housing opportunities.

Spread across Concord, the organization oversees seven buildings, each designed to meet the needs of people with varying degrees of mental health needs, all supported by clinical support from Riverbend Community Mental Health.

“Our start was sort of a halfway house for people coming out of the state hospital, giving them a place to live rather than forcing them onto the streets,” said Herb Carpenter, executive director of Fellowship Housing Opportunities.

Today, the organization has grown to one that provides housing to 63 people in the Concord area.

Interested in adding more housing, Carpenter said he hasn’t been able to find the data needed to assess the need for varying degrees of care.

Housing Challenges in Mental Health Care

Finding safe, affordable housing is a challenge in New Hampshire.

But, according to Susan Stearns, executive director of the New Hampshire Alliance on Mental Health Illness, that struggle is even more pronounced for people discharged from inpatient psychiatric facilities like New Hampshire Hospital.

“I think people are ending up with extended hospital stays in New Hampshire, even though clinically, in terms of treatment, they no longer need that level of care,” Stearns said, highlighting the impact lack of transitional housing options for people with mental health issues. disease.

“This exacerbates the emergency room overboarding problem because some beds are being used by people who no longer need that level of care.” The system therefore performs a sort of backup.

According to data from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, 68 stable New Hampshire hospital patients have been awaiting discharge for more than 15 days since May 1.

While there are many reasons for this delay, a significant factor is the lack of supportive housing in the state because these individuals cannot live independently and need the intensive, coordinated services available in residential settings.

Support area

Transitioning from highly restrictive environments such as locked wards in psychiatric hospitals like New Hampshire Hospital to community living is crucial for individuals on the path to recovery.

Ed Austin, director of program services, said residents have spent years in such environments, but eventually, when they are ready and feeling better, they move to unlocked environments like community living, where people can move freely.

“Once they’re feeling good, they’ve taken their medication, they’re doing well, and then they come to a place like this where everything is unlocked,” said Austin, director of community living. “People can come and go as they please. »

After putting his things in order, DeLew headed down the stairs from his room to hang out with the other residents in the community space. When she saw Zackery Lawpau, who had been residing at the residence for six months, she struck up a conversation with him.

The general atmosphere promotes the reintegration of residents into the community.

“It’s motivating, it’s actually easy to be here,” said DeLew, who has lived in the shelter for a year.

Once you enter the building, a bulletin board displays a schedule detailing tasks from preparing meals to washing dishes for residents. In addition to their individual rooms, they have a shared lounge for watching TV, a games room and a dining area.

While the administration takes care of groceries, the New Hampshire Food Bank has also served as a lifeline for community housing.

Occasionally, residents are responsible for preparing meals.

On a Wednesday afternoon, the aroma of bacon wafted through the kitchen, after a resident made himself a delicious BLT sandwich.

Every evening, the staff prepares a family meal, sometimes with help from residents.

“We don’t teach them, but we coach them if they need help making dinner,” said Ethan Harmon, the director of the community residence, who spends much of his time in the building, the considering it almost like a second home.

On-site staff also provide therapeutic behavioral services and residents receive support with shopping and transportation needs.

The program charges rent to people who stay there, but Carpenter said it is low-income housing.

Most of the rent is covered either by housing choice vouchers in some localities or by housing and urban development grants, ensuring that every resident receives rental assistance.

After a year and a half in the facility, making friends, working daily on his mental health recovery and turning his room into a real home, DeLew wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m happy here. I think we’re all in a really good situation,” she said.