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.
CONCORD – While Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte has said she opposes increasing highway toll rates across the state, the Senate voted Thursday to increase rates for out-of-state license plate holders.
It now goes to the House for consideration.
This would be a $1 increase for those who have out of state plates going through the tolls at Hooksett, Hampton and Bedford for out-of-state plates, a 75 cent hike for those taking Hampton’s Exit 2 and on the Spaulding turnpike at Rochester, and a 50 cent hike for those taking the exit off I-93 to Hooksett.
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An analysis in the bill shows that this would increase toll revenue by $53.3 million in fiscal year 2027 and go up each year to generate $81.4 million a year in 2036.
Senate Bill 627 passed on a voice vote with two Republicans, Senators Regina Birdsell of Hampstead and William Gannon of Sandown opposing.
Senator Mark E. McConkey, R-Freedom, moved to take the bill off the table and offered an amendment. He said the last time there was a systemwide increase to the turnpike toll was 19 years ago.
“I am sure we could all agree the cost of operations…has continued to escalate when revenue is not rising with it,” and he noted that with an enterprise fund, the state can only spend what it takes in.
The state has just completed a 10-year highway plan and there was a $400 million shortfall in projects that could not be paid for under the current income.
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McConkey said the measure would not increase tolls for New Hampshire drivers with a state license plate.
“Why don’t we ask our neighbors,” to pay a toll increase. “We are getting the best of all worlds,” by passing the bill, he said, including “protecting our residents” and having resources for improvements to the turnpike system.
Sen. Gannon, R-Sandown, asked McConkey if there are any studies on impacts near the border on businesses.
If implemented, McConkey said the state will be the 27th lowest in per mile cost still. McConkey said the bill would also increase from seven to 14 days the amount of time for those with NH license plates to pay for a toll adding there are other states that also have different rates for out-of-state users.
The Hampton toll cost would go from $2 to $3, while Hooksett and Bedford would rise from $1 to $2 for out-of-state plates.
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New Hampshire currently has the lowest rate per mile among states with tolls roads. The governor said she does not support a toll increase.
“We are not going to put a burden on drivers for a toll increase,” Ayotte said. “Families are struggling.”
WILTON, N.H. (WHDH) – A woman died in a Wilton, New Hampshire, house fire Wednesday morning, according to the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office.
At 9:08 a.m., Wilton firefighters responded to Burns Hill Road after a caller said their home was filling up with smoke. When they arrived, a single-family home was on fire and they found out two people were still inside on the second floor.
A man and a woman were both taken out of the house by firefighters and taken to Elliott Hospital. The woman was pronounced dead and the man is in serious condition.
Officials have not released the name of the victim at this time.
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At this time, investigators are looking into the cause of the fire and are trying to determine if a power outage in the area played a factor. The fire is not currently considered suspicious.
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