When her husband died in 2021, Lorraine Blanchard didn’t know what to do. It had been a while since she’d lived by herself, and she ended up getting sick and landing in a hospital. When she was released, she moved into a shared room in an assisted living facility.
“I felt it wasn’t my home,” she said, “and I really need to be in my own home.”
Then, Blanchard learned about Champlin Place, a new 65-unit building in Rochester. The low-income independent living community, run by Easterseals New Hampshire, is designed for seniors like her. Blanchard applied and moved in this year.
Blanchard, who has secondary Parkinson’s, gets visits from a home health aide a few times a week, catches rides to an adult day center down the street, and receives deliveries from Meals on Wheels. She can navigate her apartment with her walker. She spends time doing art projects, listening to music and hosting friends.
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“This is the place to come,” she said during a recent interview in her apartment, surrounded by boxes of family photos. “There’s no discrimination — everyone accepts each other for who they are.”
Low-income seniors pay between around $350 and $1,400 a month for apartments in Champlin Place, a new affordable housing property in Rochester run by Easterseals.
But there’s a lot of demand for this kind of living. At Champlin Place alone, the waitlist is more than 100 people long. Across New Hampshire, about one in five people are above age 65, and the population is steadily growing older. But with rents soaring and vacant housing in short supply, seniors with limited incomes face a particular challenge: finding an apartment that’s safe, affordable and aging-ready.
The shortage of affordable housing for older adults reflects the state’s larger housing crisis. Over the last five years, median rent has increased by 36%, according to New Hampshire Housing. Marie Poole, who manages properties and facilities for Easterseals, says some people’s rents have spiked by $400 to $600 a month.
“There are lots of people in the state of New Hampshire that are paying over 50% of their gross income in rent,” Poole said. “It’s a disastrous train wreck about to happen, if anything goes wrong in their lives.”
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RoddHersey says worrying less about paying medical and housing bills, since finding a more affordable place to live, has given him more time to pursue artwork, ministry, and time with family.
Before moving into Champlin Place, Rodd Hersey was living in a mobile home in Nottingham. He heated it with firewood that he split and stacked himself. But he was also living with lung cancer, and the wood smoke was becoming dangerous. When his family first suggested Champlin Place, he hesitated.
“You know when you’re an old horse, you don’t like new things,” Hersey said. “But I learned to adapt.”
Hersey requested an apartment with a view onto the woods. In his living room, he’s set up his painting easel by the window.
Rent at Champlin Place costs between $1,100 and $1,400 a month, including utilities. Some residents, including Hersey, receive rental assistance and pay even less.
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“I could never have dreamt that I would be in a place that is as nice as this for what I pay,” Hersey said, gesturing towards the kitchen’s granite countertops and new appliances.
Like many senior housing properties, Hersey’s apartment is designed for easy modification in case he starts using a walker or wheelchair. The cabinets under the sink are removable; the doors, windows and cupboards are easy to open. There are communal lounge areas indoors and outdoors to relieve social isolation, and paved walkways to accommodate wheelchairs.
Poole, who manages the property, said many people tell her that worrying less about how to pay medical bills and rent frees up time for the things that give life meaning.
“There are a lot of people here who have commented about how – not only have their lives become easier, they feel a sense of calm here that they did not have before,” she said.
The scarcity of housing like Champlin Place is prompting some seniors to move prematurely into assisted living facilities and nursing homes, which can be five times as expensive as monthly rent. Others stay in their houses even when it’s no longer safe, exposing themselves to health risks and their properties to decline.
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Betsey Andrews Parker, the CEO of the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County, said she has seen this firsthand: some seniors live out of one room because they can’t afford to heat their large homes, others can no longer reach second-floor bathrooms and resort to using a bucket instead.
“There are really thousands of residents in New Hampshire who are living this way,” she said, “and people don’t know.”
A number of non-profit organizations, such as Avesta Housing, Easterseals, and local Community Action Partnerships, have helped build and operate affordable housing units in New Hampshire. The Gafney Home, shown here, was renovated by the Strafford County Community Action Partnership.
New Hampshire Housing Director Rob Dapice said some seniors are ready to move into more accessible and affordable units, but it’s not always easy — due to high interest rates, and a shortage of smaller homes and apartments.
“In many cases, downsizing would be prohibitively expensive,” he said.
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Thus begins a vicious cycle, Dapice said. Seniors have nowhere to move, so their larger homes and apartments never become available for younger families. Those younger families continue to rent, rather than buy, which puts more pressure on the rental market. As a result, rent for everyone continues to rise.
Betsey Andrews Parker in the historic Gafney Home in Rochester. Once renovated, the property will have a communal downstairs space, 21 affordable housing units, and a garden.
Efforts to address New Hampshire’s housing shortage have been slow to take shape at the State House. As advocates push to modify zoning rules and make it easier to build from the ground up, some organizations have turned to another strategy: retrofitting existing buildings into senior housing.
In Berlin, developers recently converted a shuttered elementary school into affordable housing. In Laconia, a historic inn became affordable housing for seniors. In Rochester, the Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Strafford County is turning a Victorian mansion called the Gafney Home into 21 small apartments.
Converting a historic property into apartment buildings is often more expensive than a new build. At the Gafney Home, preserving the historic character — oversized windows, ornate fireplaces, stained glass windows — came at a cost. And there were other hurdles: supply chain delays, and retrofitting areas to make them handicap-accessible. The project has run $2 million over budget.
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But Andrews Parker, who’s overseeing this work, says the ordeal is worth it.
On a recent tour of the project, she stood inside a two-bedroom apartment that already has a long list of applicants. She teared up imagining who might move in next month: a senior who needs a live-in caregiver, or someone who is still caring for a grown child or grandkids.
“This is exactly the kind of housing we need,” Andrews Parker said. “We need housing that’s beautiful, that’s safe, that people can really age in place in.”
The 120-year old Gafney Home served as an assisted living facility before closing in 2019. It needed significant renovations to reopen as an apartment building.
HAMPTON — When Army veteran Kyle Saltonstall stepped to the podium at Hampton’s American Legion Post 35 Memorial Day ceremonies on May 25, the crowd met a speaker whose path to service has been anything but ordinary.
Saltonstall, 44, spent years with the Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment — the “Night Stalkers” — but that’s only one chapter in a life marked by adventure, reinvention and a steady pull toward service.
“He’s quite an interesting guy,” said Berk Bennett, commander of Post 35. “And a great speaker.”
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Raised on a Marine Corps air station in southern Arizona, Saltonstall developed an early appreciation for military life.
After losing his father at 17, he spent a decade crisscrossing the country — from Florida to Alaska to Oregon — collecting experiences that ranged from managing a pedicab company to performing as a clown in a small Texas circus.
“I was the mechanic and manager of a pedicab (bike taxi) company in Portland (Oregon),” Saltonstall said. “I met a clown there who was heading down to Texas, and I went with him. Being a clown was so much fun. It’s an art form. The role of the jester in the court was unique historically. He was the only one allowed to challenge the king.”
Saltonstall spent two years in the circus when, in 2010, he saw a Craigslist ad seeking volunteers to help rebuild homes in Haiti after a devastating earthquake.
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Initially skeptical, he answered the ad and soon found himself working alongside U.S. service members providing humanitarian aid.
“These were men who spoke like my father,” Saltonstall said. “They were confident, disciplined in their language, competent and calm.”
Inspired, he walked into a Marine Corps recruiting office when he returned home — only to be told by arecruiter that while his life thus far had been “interesting,” the Marines weren’t looking for “interesting.”Undeterred, he stepped next door to the Army recruiter, where he found his place for the next five-plus years.
More: Ginny Bridle-Russell named Hampton’s 2026 Citizen of the Year
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Serving as a Night Stalker medic
Saltonstall completed the combat medic’s course at the Joint Special Operations Airborne School and deployed to Afghanistan as an Advanced Tactical Paramedic with the 4th Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
The Night Stalkers are the unit that delivers special operations teams — Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Green Berets — on high‑risk night missions. Their pilots are trained to fly low and fast under enemy radar.
Although he wasn’t involved, such military enterprises include the May 2011 mission to capture Osama Bin Laden, Saltonstall said, or more recently, the one that retrieved the pilot shot down in unfriendly territory during the current Iran War.
“We flew the big Chinook helicopters,” he said. “We’d have at least one medic assigned to each mission. I usually tried to make myself as small as possible and sit in the back out of the way of the (combatants).”
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His job was threefold, he said. First, he tended to the daily well-being of the people in his unit. His second role was medical contingency planning when deployed to make sure that any injured combatants brought back to the helicopter would survive until they got to land-based medical facilities.
The last of his roles was going on missions and providing the care needed. This service, he said, was in his nature. Throughout his life, Saltonstall said, blood never bothered him; he’d always been interested in medicine and found it natural to help those injured.
His awards include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Parachutist Badge.
More: Seabrook’s Lucas Rosa makes UFC case with brutal first‑round win, moves to 9‑0
A new life in New Hampshire
After leaving the service in 2016, Saltonstall planned to pursue medicine through an Army program at Wesleyan University. That’s where he met his future wife, Sophie, an Emmy‑nominated filmmaker whose family owns Stratham’s historic Saltonstall Farm.
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“My goal was to become a doctor and make enough money to retire and buy a farm,” he said. “When Sophie learned of it, she said, ‘Do you want a shortcut?’ When he returned from World War II, in 1947, my wife’s grandfather, Dr. Saltonstall, founded her family farm.”
The couple moved to Stratham, married, and took Sophie’s mother’s maiden name as their own. Saltonstall transferred to UNH, switched from pre‑med to agriculture, and never looked back.
Today, the father of three young children helps run the family’s organic farm, where strawberry season runs from early June through the Fourth of July, followed by raspberries and an indoor strawberry crop that produces into November.
“I really believe we have the best organic strawberries on the Seacoast,” he said. “And we hope to bring in blueberries soon.”
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One thing was missing when he returned to New Hampshire: the adrenaline of emergency response. He found it with the Stratham Fire Department, where he has volunteered for seven years. He has earned EMT certification and recently completed Firefighter I and II training.
“I enjoy the variety,” he said. “I’m glad to be where I am.”
The election for the NH Electric Cooperative (NHEC) Board of Directors is happening now. I urge readers to watch for the ballots coming in the mail or go on to their NHEC SmartHub account and vote there.
The NHEC Board is made up of only 11 members. There are two incumbents up for re-election and four new candidates to choose from. You can vote for three new board members this year and bring about significant change at NHEC.
The board decides where our electricity comes from, what member-side programs NHEC offers and how proactive the New Hampshire Electric Co-op is for supporting local renewable energy. As co-founder of the Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative, a co-op member and someone who pays close attention to how NHEC is governed, I believe the NHEC Board would benefit from new voices, experiences and leadership styles. The NHEC as a utility has the potential to be an even stronger leader when it comes to doing what is right for the environment and keeping rates affordable.
If you get your electricity from the co-op, then you have a say in how it is run. I urge you to vote for three genuine, thoughtful and technology forward-thinking leaders: Brad Harkavy of Campton, Laurel Boivin of Lee and Tom Randell of Moultonborough. They will make an excellent addition to the Board.
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Be sure to mail your ballot back so it arrives by June 10 or jump on your SmartHub account and vote right now.
This is a story not about scenic views, wildflowers, animals, people met, towns encountered, but some reality, at least mine, of things we often do not talk about in the hiking community. In retrospect, the first 1,800+ miles headed north on my thru hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) were certainly taxing and replete with various challenges that I had to work through, learn from, and make adjustments. However, realistically not much on the AT at that point, and per my years of previous hiking experiences, prepared me mentally for what I would encounter in New Hampshire.
Welcome to idyllic New Hampshire.
More idyllic New Hampshire. Not so fast, Mr. Hiker guy, can’t do the same moves as before.
New Hampshire Hiking
Frankly, New Hampshire is a beast and I do mean that in a positive and respectful manner. The hiking in New Hampshire is so technically difficult from other areas within the U.S. and abroad that I have hiked. It seemed like I was constantly bouldering, scrambling, using handholds, fording high, swift creeks/rivers, navigating massive descents with no “guardrails,” or in May encountering hour-by-hour changing weather (e.g., snow, hail, sleet, rain, wind).
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A granite face. Down we go.
Crazy Descent
When I hike, I do carry with me a healthy dose of fear, which I find to be positive. For me, fear operates as a navigating tool related to risks, focusing my mind, calming my emotional state, or strengthening my thought processes/decision-making.
On a few AT sections early on in New Hampshire, such as the northbound massive descent (Beaver Brook Cascades) down from Mount Moosilauke in a snow and sleet storm, my revolve and fear-cooping mechanisms seemed to become a negative version of “scared” with every step given the large amounts of this winter’s snow and ice, slippery rock faces, micro spikes and/or trial runners not adhering well to granite, and so on. In my mind, and probably quite true given the weather and trail conditions, danger of a fall, injury, or worse appeared to be at every turn and step. A 3+ mile very steep descent turned into a 3 to 4 hour mental stress test that I am pretty sure I “failed.”
Snow and ice up and down the mountain.
I was warned.
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Rising Waters
The next day, I hiked about 17 miles from Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch, and it had rained a lot in that section of the AT during the previous two days. During my ascent of Mount Kinsman, it continued to rain and rain. I must of forded 6 to 8 rivers, or maybe just the same river that amount of times, but as the day wore on, the water levels in these river(s) kept rising. I am almost 6’3” tall and by the end of the hiking day, I was fording river water mid- to upper-thigh and in super swift conditions. Again, like the previous Mousilauke experience, my positive fear started to become something more negative and mentally paralyzing thinking about the inherent risk involved in fording a deep, swift river late in the day and with no other option to get to the other side of a flooded out AT.
Various extremely sketchy river fords.
A Reset
After these experiences, and frankly losing my confidence, I took a few days off to level set, so I stayed at the wonderful Notch Hostel. To date, the Notch is my favorite hostel on the trail. The staff were so welcoming, warm, and always available. The hostel was super clean and friendly and had very fair expectations related to how hikers et al. should live there as well as treat the hostel environment. After at reset, I went back out and did a 27-mile hike in a few days of the famed Franconia Ridge over Mounts Lafayette and Lincoln, South Twin Mountain, and others. This was a very challenging hike, but one that I needed to do to gain my nerve back and reestablish mentally my healthy level of fear instead of hiking scared per possible ‘what if’ scenarios of serious injury and beyond.
Moving into Part II
So, in the end, it was fine to lose my nerve for a time and be scared in certain hiking situations. The key for me was in recognizing the latter state, trying to mentally review the circumstances, and learn from these experiences. Then, I needed to physically go back out in challenging conditions and hike. I feel really good about New Hampshire and what is to come on the AT. My part II, if you will, will be informed from my part I. I can’t wait for more of New Hampshire.
A new day rising.
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