Their dream home has become a place of nightmares.
A New Hampshire family is being terrorized by a homeless encampment that sprouted up behind their historic home, leading to violent encounters with the vagrants, according to a report.
Robin Bach and her husband spent years restoring their 19th-century dream home in Concord to raise their two children, ages 8 and 11 — but have been plagued by the campers living in the woods behind the palatial abode.
They’ve received death threats and have heard gunshots and screams from beyond the tree line. A swingset in their backyard, bought in 2020 during the pandemic, sits untouched by her terrified children, who will only play in the front yard.
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“I can’t even use my backyard. My kids can’t go out there,” Bach told the Concord Monitor. “I would like my children to be independent and feel comfortable going outside and playing and they won’t.
“This is the worst it’s ever been, It’s the worst it’s ever been.”
Trash has piled up at a homeless encampment behind Robin Bach’s Concord, New Hampshire, home. Michael Barnett/Facebook
Since purchasing the house in 2018 with grand plans to renovate and raise a family, Bach has called police 37 times, according to police records reviewed by the newspaper. Six calls were for an area check, another six for disturbances as well as domestic violence and criminal trespassing incidents.
During one of their first summers in the house, Bach’s husband found a man, who they had previously seen lurking in the woods near some tents, sitting in their backyard. When he asked the man to leave, the interloper threatened to shoot him.
The man returned several times until Bach filed a restraining order against him — and cops hauled him off in handcuffs as her young children watched, she told the Concord Monitor.
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In another incident, she was teaching her son how to do laundry when they heard chilling screams of some yelling, “Get off me, get off me” coming from the encampment, prompting another police call.
The problem has only gotten worse since Bach moved into the home in 2018. Google Maps
A dumpster fire behind a neighbor’s home two doors down sent wailing firetrucks rushing up her street to put out the blaze, the outlet said.
When Bach asked for a quote to install a chain link fence around her property, she was disheartened to learn that it would cost $50,000, she told the Monitor.
“I can’t afford to clean it up. I can’t physically do it myself,” she said about the garbage visible from the house. “So the trash remains.”
What was once just one or two tents when she first moved in, the camp has ballooned to about half a dozen, as New Hampshire experiences one of the largest percentage increases in homelessness in the country, according to the paper.
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Bach said her children are scared to play in the backyard because of the encampment. @robinlanebach/TikTok
The encampment on Bach’s property poses a unique challenge because it borders property and train tracks owned by CSX, a freight railroad company.
While Concord police can go and issue no-trespassing orders at any time, CSX also has its own police detail that will sweep the area and arrest people.
Police are able to clear out the camp and have done so a few times and tried to connect them with local programs to find stable housing — but that’s the extent of the city’s involvement on private property, meaning the litter stays.
And, after the police have moved the campers out, they just return in a matter of days, Bach told the Monitor.
While police have repeatedly removed the campers, the city does not clean up their mess. Michael Barnett/Facebook
“We have a pretty significant homeless problem,” Barrett Moulton, the deputy chief of patrol and police liaison on the city’s homeless steering committee, told the outlet. “They’re going to be somewhere.”
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“It’s Whack-a-Mole,” Bach echoed. “You can’t just ask them to leave, they’re going to go somewhere else. You have to give them someplace to go.”
Bach understands that squatters behind her home need assistance and stability. She recently spoke to a man who holds a day job and tries to keep the area around his ten clean.
She and other local leaders believe a solution would be to create a designated campsite for the homeless in the city, where much-needed resources and outreach can be concentrated in one place.
“You can put your tent here, here’s bathrooms, dumpsters,” she said. “They’ve come here and told them to move a million times, they don’t move.”
The Supreme Court ruled last week that homeless people can be ticketed and fined for camping on public property in a landmark decision, which will likely lead to cities across the country to take legal action against the unhoused.
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Last year, about 650,000 individuals in the US lacked a permanent place to live, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, a 12% increase from 2022 and the most since tracking began in 2007.
As a public health professional and state representative, I’m alarmed by recent shifts in federal vaccination policies from the US Department of Health and Human Services. These changes threaten to undermine decades of progress in protecting New Hampshire families from preventable diseases.
Vaccines remain one of the most powerful tools we have against serious illnesses, from seasonal flu to emerging infectious threats. Historically, federal agencies like the CDC have provided clear, science-based guidance and helped ensure vaccines are affordable and accessible to all Americans.
But recent moves signal a retreat from this commitment. The decision to abandon universal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for adults is just the latest example of how federal leadership is stepping back when we need it most. Without straightforward guidance, confusion grows, and with it, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation flourish.
This shift disproportionately harms the most vulnerable Granite Staters: Those in rural areas, low-income families, and elderly residents who already face barriers to health care. Worse, the change threatens to increase out-of-pocket costs by removing insurance coverage guarantees tied to universal recommendations. This is a direct threat to equal access and public health.
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New Hampshire has fought hard to maintain vaccination rates, investing in outreach and community clinics. But state-level efforts can’t fully compensate for federal retreat. When Washington cuts funding, muddles messaging, and abdicates responsibility, it’s our communities that pay the price.
Vaccination is not a partisan issue. It is about protecting lives, reducing strain on our health care system, and safeguarding the future of our children and elders.
I call on our federal leaders to restore strong, science-driven vaccine policies, fully fund public health programs, and ensure vaccines remain affordable and accessible to all Granite Staters. The health of our communities depends on clear leadership and unwavering commitment.
Jennifer Mandelbaum is a public health expert representing Rockingham 21 in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
A Brockton man is recovering after a box truck crashed into a tree in New Hampshire early yesterday morning.
Around 4:30 a.m., emergency crews responded to I-93 North at Exit 23 in New Hampton, where they found a box truck lodged in a tree.
According to state police, the driver, identified as Anilton Resende Barros, 21, lost control while navigating a curve in the road.
The box truck went straight into the median, traveling over the crossover between the north and southbound lanes, struck an embankment, and launched into a group of trees before coming to a final stop in the woods separating the opposing lanes.
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Barros suffered minor injuries in the crash and was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
The left travel lanes of I-93 northbound and southbound were closed at Exit 23 for about four hours for the cleanup of the crash. All lanes were back open at 8:58 a.m.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
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In this special summer series from Give Back NH, we explore how local libraries across New Hampshire strengthen communities, support lifelong learning, and build trust—through the people, programs, and stories that make them essential.
Learn more about the Gilford Public Library and all it has to offer, here.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
When you hear the word “library,” you probably think of it as the place where you can borrow books, movies, occasionally a metal detector, but what about learning how to line dance?
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Every Saturday, Bonnie Deutch teaches her beginner line dancing class in the meeting room on the lower level of the Gilford Public Library.
Bonnie Deutch:When I moved up here, I wanted people to line dance with, but I didn’t really see much. And so I kind of waited. And then one day, one of the ladies of the library said to our Tai Chi instructor, “can you do this twice a week?” And she said, “no, I can’t.” And I said, “well, Nancy, I said, I’ll do line dancing on Wednesdays.” And she goes, “well, I’ll come if you play Willie Nelson.” And there it was.
Bonnie Deutch:I never knew that there’d be so much information advocating dancing for heart health, mental health, things that just keep popping out of the woodwork about dance, dance, dance.
I’m Dan Cahill, and this is the 3rd stop on Give Back New Hampshire’s library tour.
Eugene Seymour, a guinea pig who lives at the Gilford Public Library, who Miss Linda affectionately refers to as “the Mayor.”
Also on the lower level, there’s the children’s library, and as soon as you walk in, you’re greeted with the “mayor,” Eugene Seymour — A guinea pig who lives at the library and every year, children come to the library to celebrate Eugene’s birthday, his cage surrounded by handmade cards wishing him well on his special day.
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Handmade cards from children who visit the library wishing Eugene a happy birthday.
Next to Eugene sits Miss Linda, an assistant at the children’s library, and a former teacher.
Miss Linda:Since I taught in town, what’s a real benefit for me being here, is that I can keep connections with the children I taught. I do have teenagers who come in, and it’s lovely to reconnect with them because I taught fifth grade, which is 10/11. But I also have children that I taught who now have their children and they bring them in. So not only do I get to see where “my kids” ended up, but I get to meet their children, and it’s just lovely to continue to instill the love of reading for all these generations.
The most important thing about libraries though, Linda says, is the connections they can create.
Miss Linda:We see that a lot with the children and the adults that come, they build these friendships, and then they go out into the community together and they’re pretty lasting ones. They’re really lovely. And even with the programs that are held downstairs here, where we see the adults that attend them, they’re just so happy to be able to connect with other people in meaningful ways.
For Annie, a local mother, those connections helped her family after they moved to Gilford in 2021.
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Annie:My husband is from here, and so he always talked about how wonderful the library was. And so when we moved here and we didn’t know anybody, this is where we started coming. And we’ve made lots of friends since we’ve started doing that. It’s been a real like sense of place and community here for us.
Line dancing, new connections, even some furry friends, there’s much to experience at the Gilford Public Library. I think Colden, who was visiting the library with his mother Bryanne says it best.
Miss Linda: And what did you tell me this morning when you came in? You said, “I want to go to the library…”
