A report dropped this week outlining a significant rise in homelessness across the state of New Hampshire. One outlet emphasized the percentage rise and how much greater it is than many other states but left out a lot of detail.
MANCHESTER, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) Homelessness in New Hampshire surged by an unprecedented 52.1 percent in 2023, marking the highest percentage increase in the nation, according to a newly released report by the NH Coalition to End Homelessness (NHCEH).
The national average increase was significantly lower at 12 percent, placing a harsh spotlight on the state’s growing crisis.
Surged!
Democrats in NH blame Chris Sununu, but I don’t think he has anything to do with it, and I’m not interested in their whiny crap excuses. This is all on them.
Related: Ray Buckley’s Legacy – The Man Who Lost the FITN Dem Primary
MyKeeneNow took their lead from the report – The State of Homelessness in New Hampshire (2024 Edition), again leaving out some essential details and necessary context.
For comparison sakes, we should know the number of homeless in our state and then in “other states.” Fifty-two point one percent sounds like a lot, but is it? And if the national average is 12%, it is 12% of what? California (for example) estimated 181,399 homeless in 2023. Twelve percent would be more than 22,000 additional “unhoused” persons. That’s a lot for just 12 percent (not that it applies to CA; I’m just using that to make a point).
So, what are we talking about in the Granite State? That 52.1% figure comes from a statewide difference in Point-In-Time count (PIT) between 2022 and 2023.
What’s the total statewide PIT for 2023? It is 2,441.
That’s 1,269 more (based on PIT) than the previous year.
To be clear, any number of homeless people is too many, but the only time the usual suspects bring it up is when it serves some political purpose or results in a government-managed forced redistribution of wealth. Factoid. The same report notes that one in four homeless people in the Granite State were in Joyce Craig’s Manchester (and, I’ll add, in Joe and Kamala’s high-inflation America). I have not seen that in any of the reporting.
I wonder why.
Nashua is also a Democrat ghetto, and its contribution to this problem is not insignificant, but again – there is not much interest in that. Or, any connections to the local leadership or the economic pressure created by four years of President Kamala Harris and the Joe Biden guy.
From Page 7 of the (emphasis mine)
As seen in Figure 3, in 2023, the municipalities housed within the Balance of State Continuum of Care (BoSCoC) reported approximately 60% of all residents who experienced homelessness in the Granite State, meaning that the majority of NH citizens who received homeless support services in 2023 lived outside of Manchester and greater Nashua. As the largest city in the state, Manchester, which is its own CoC, represented just over 1 out of every 4 people who experienced homelessness in NH.
Here’s something else you won’t find in the handmaiden media reporting (page 11)—emphasis mine.
Since the 2019 PIT Count, chronic homelessness has grown over 150% in the Granite State. Nationally, there was a 12% increase in chronically homeless populations across the United States from 2022 to 2023 in the single-night PIT Count data.[8] In this same period, New Hampshire’s chronically homeless population increased 51.8%, from 359 to 545 people. This continues a significantly concerning upward trend. The year-long increase in chronic homelessness from 2022 to 2023 in NH was more moderate, rising by 14.3%, from 1657 to 1894 people, with a 49.0% rise from 2020-2023.
Chronically homeless are the people you think about when most people think of the homeless. But the message loses some impact when you see the numbers. Fewer than 100 equals 51.8%. There are still too many, especially if one of them is you (right?), but what unusual thing happened between 2020-2023? The forced lockdowns, closed businesses, people unemployed and mocked for defending their bodily autonomy or religious liberty, the prolonged terror campaign by politicians and media led by who? The Biden administration and the local and national Democrat Party.
It isn’t at all strange that these two things coincide or that there is a lack of reporting suggesting it (aside from ours).
Sununu wasn’t great on COVID-era policy, but he didn’t cornhole the economy, fubar the supply chain, waste trillions to drive up inflation, or make everything from gas to groceries so expensive people had to decide between eating and being “housed.” That was Democrats and the Joe and Kamala show.
One more point and a question.
The New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness published the report. An organization that likely does not exist to end homelessness lest it cease to exist (my opinion). Its budget is not significant. It has assets of around 200K and raises about 100K annually.
But a similar group in the State Capitol called the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness is a different story. In 2022, they paid salaries, benefits, and other compensation to officers, directors, and others, totaling 762,000 dollars. They have reported 4.68 million in the use of government services or facilities since 2018 at no charge. At the end of 2020, they reported net assets of 1.988 million. Contributions and grants of 1.135 million.
That’s just Concord. Here is their 2023 Form 990 if you don’t believe me. They operate physical assets, which drives up their costs, but it seems like a lot of money, yes? More than 3/4 of a million of their 2022 annual revenue was in Federal Grants ($748,649), with another $389,000 in other grants and gifts.
There’s a lot of money in managing the unhoused, which is also not in any of the reporting (that I saw).
And now, the question? From the report:
Significant inequities exist in the rates at which racial minorities experience homelessness in NH.
How many of the new unhoused are illegal aliens (or their families), and how many of them are being “housed” – where available – in place of actual Granite Staters?
Is part of the solution to deport illegals (That ought to snap a few twigs)? And who Is responsible for all the illegals? It’ s not Chris Sununu.
