Strafford County Homeless Shelter transitions to year-round facility

The Homeless Shelter of Strafford County (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - The Homeless Center for Strafford County at 202 Washington Street is now a year-round facility.

The shelter's board of directors made the move last month.

Now area homeless from Strafford County, Rockingham County and Southern Maine have an additional

"This move to a year-round operation comes with its own challenges," said Board President Kathleen Levesque. "We have scaled up staffing, which adds to the other increases in operating costs all around. When the Board of Directors decided to do this, there was much discussion; the need is great - so we're diving in with an all-in, 'sink or swim' mentality. If this is going to succeed, we will need help from every town that will benefit from our being open every day."

The organization hopes that the surrounding communities will lend their support during this critical year. Those interested in helping can visit their website at https://hcscnh.org.

The shelter opened this past Monday and is already at full capacity, serving single adults and families with children. Their primary focus is to assist individuals in securing permanent housing, a challenging task in a region where the rental housing market has almost no available and affordable options.

Todd Marsh, the Rochester Welfare Director, shared his thoughts on the transition of the 'Home for Now' shelter's operating status on Washington Street, stating, "Since the Homeless Center for Strafford County opened..., people have often inquired about the shelter transitioning to yearlong emergency housing services. As the first executive director of the shelter, I take special pleasure in seeing this change and am honored to have been at the discussion table leading up to the decision. I look forward to the now yearlong shelter adding to an eclectic mix of emergency housing services throughout the greater seacoast area, which is of value during a time of increasing housing insecurity and to people with varying unique needs. This decision will be the shelter board of director's lasting legacy."