136 veterans housed through coordinated community initiative
Manchester, NH - Today, surrounded by veteran service organizations, and community partners, Mayor Jay Ruais and Harbor Care CEO, and veteran, Henry Och, announced that Manchester has met the legacy benchmarks for effectively ending veteran homelessness, fulfilling a commitment Mayor Ruais made when launching the initiative in September 2024.
At the time, 47 veterans were experiencing homelessness in Manchester. Every veteran from that original group has since secured permanent housing. Tragically, one veteran has passed away. Over 130 veterans have now been housed through the initiative.
“Nearly two years ago, we promised to effectively end veteran homelessness in Manchester. Today, with the help of our community partners, we have fulfilled that promise,” said Mayor Ruais. “Over 130 veterans have been housed, including every veteran from the original group. They fought for us. It is only right that we fight for them.”
Effectively ending veteran homelessness does not mean that a veteran will never face a housing crisis, or become homeless. It means Manchester has a system in place to quickly identify veterans experiencing homelessness, connect them with services, and help them secure permanent housing. The goal is to ensure veteran homelessness remains rare, brief, and nonrecurring. The Manchester Continuum of Care has reviewed and certified that this system has met the legacy benchmarks necessary to declare the City of Manchester has effectively ended veteran homelessness.
The initiative began in September 2024 with a coordinated plan developed by Mayor Ruais, Harbor Care, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and community partners.
“The success of this initiative demonstrates what’s possible when a community comes together around a shared purpose,” stated Henry Och, Harbor Care President and CEO. “This effort includes a deep level of collaboration between federal and municipal agencies, non-profit organizations, landlords and developers, business and community leaders. Manchester should be incredibly proud of this milestone.”
“This milestone is worth celebrating because it shows what’s possible when a community comes together around a shared goal. By creating a coordinated, targeted response for veterans, we helped make veteran homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring—and built a model that can help us address homelessness among other populations as well.” said Matthew McCall, Chair of the Manchester Continuum of Care and representative of The Home for Little Wanderers.
The initiative uses current data and regular meetings among service providers to identify veterans in need and track their progress toward housing. Partners work with each veteran to find housing, provide services, and remove barriers that can delay placement.
The coalition also created a Sustainability Fund to help cover expenses such as security deposits, application fees, emergency housing, and identification documents.
“When we launched this initiative, I said that just like in the military, we would not accomplish this mission alone,” Mayor Ruais continued. “Harbor Care, the VA, the Manchester Continuum of Care, our landlords, veteran service organizations, outreach workers, and other community partners made this possible. Our work now is to maintain this system and ensure veterans who face homelessness are quickly connected with housing and support. Additionally, this is a roadmap for how we can tackle homelessness more broadly. We can take the lessons learned from this initiative and scale it to address the larger population. This is exactly what we have done with the elderly and infirmed, families and children along with those suffering from substance use disorder or mental health issues.”
“Over the years, our veterans have heard people say, ‘Welcome home.’ Now, I want to be able to tell them, ‘Welcome to your new home. Today, we can,” Mayor Ruais said.
Manchester, NH - American Medical Response (AMR) reported yesterday that the City of Manchester just experienced its first month on record with no suspected overdose fatalities since 2015. This milestone has been the result of dedicated City and community leadership to evidence-based interventions, coordinated rapid response, and ongoing partnership and collaboration.
“For more than a decade and a half, the opioid crisis has claimed hundreds of lives throughout NH and devastated countless families. Going an entire month in Manchester without a suspected opioid-overdose death—for the first time in 140 months—is an extraordinary milestone” said Chris Stawasz, AMR Regional Director, “It reflects the dedicated work of AMR medics, Manchester Fire and Police, public health officials, treatment and recovery providers, and scores of community partners. We should celebrate this progress while continuing the work needed to make opioid overdose-fatality free months the expectation, not the exception.”
“This milestone represents something incredibly meaningful: lives saved,” said Mayor Jay Ruais. “Manchester has worked relentlessly to confront the opioid crisis in a comprehensive way, and for the first time since this crisis began, we have gone an entire month without losing a life to a suspected overdose. That is a moment worth recognizing, while understanding that even one life lost is one too many. We will build on this progress and remain focused on making Manchester a healthier and safer community. I want to thank our Health Department, first responders, and all our community partners whose work is making a real difference every day.”
“This is an incredible milestone and a testament to the hard work of our first responders, law enforcement, treatment and recovery providers, and everyone on the front lines of this fight,” said Governor Kelly Ayotte. “We know there is more work ahead, but this progress shows that our coordinated approach is saving lives. We will keep working together to get deadly drugs off our streets, strengthen prevention, and make sure Granite Staters in recovery get the support they need.”
Health officials warn that while this is a moment of achievement, the opioid crisis is still posing a public health threat to its constituents and that continued vigilance and support for those in recovery remains essential. Anyone can seek substance use disorder treatment by accessing the NH Doorway program 24/7 by calling 2 1 1 at any time of the day or night, or visit
www.thedoorway.nh.gov. If you believe someone is overdosing, call 9 1 1 immediately.