Homeless Outreach

Individuals struggling with homelessness, substance misuse, and mental illness can often find it difficult to access the care they need. We’ve spent decades creating lasting relationships with community outreach organizations to ensure our homeless neighbors are able to access the care they need.

Our Philosophy

We believe the most effective way to reach out to individuals who are homeless and have a mental illness is to engage them where they are – both physically and psychologically.

That’s why we employ a Homeless Outreach Clinician whose job is to specifically engage this population, helping to ensure ready access to GNMH programs and the broader continuum of community services. The program’s clinician has decades of experience identifying homeless individuals in need of services and works tirelessly to engage them.

The Homeless Outreach Clinician has established strong relationships with area providers and is familiar with the locales where homeless individuals are likely to be found. Our agency is an active member of the Greater Nashua Continuum of Care, a consortium of nonprofit service providers dedicated to ending homelessness in the area, which can assist in providing homeless individuals with wrap around care.

A Place To Live Housing Program

Lack of safe, affordable, stable housing leads to greater levels of impairment for anyone, including those with a severe mental illness. These individuals may have more difficulty accessing services and support, which can worsen instability and can often result in hospitalization, or in some cases, incarceration.

Having a safe, stable place to call home is a critical component of anyone’s mental health. For individuals living with mental illness, our A Place To Live Program can make the difference between simply surviving and actively recovering to live independent and fulfilling lives.

How It Works

This rental assistance program sees independence and self-reliance as the key, achievable goal for each participant. A transitional recovery-oriented program, this program allows for housing subsidies to be given directly to the person as a symbol of empowerment.

  • The qualified program participant actively participates in finding an apartment, negotiating a lease, signing documents, and being held fully responsible for maintenance and compliance with landlord rules
  • The treatment team serves as consultants
  • Housing must be HWS compliant, be within GNMH’s geographic catchment area, be within walking distance to stores, healthcare, and community resources or public transportation
  • A monthly stipend is granted for shared housing, and could be extended to bridge the gap that waiting lists for housing programs create
  • This housing is obtained in the name of the client and only the stipend is dependent on clinical and financial need – the consumer can maintain the lease on his/her own as they are able to afford the rent.

Supportive Services

Supportive services to participants also include:

  • Case management services
  • Illness management and community support counseling
  • Housing outreach
  • Supported employment
  • Educational services
  • Mobile crisis and assessment

Who Is Eligible?

Individuals who meet the New Hampshire definition of “adults with severe and persistent mental illness” and who are currently in compliance with treatment offered by Greater Nashua Mental Health may enroll in the A Place To Live program.

Admission Criteria:

  • Clients of Greater Nashua Mental Health
  • Clients who lack housing, which is deemed a major risk factor for relapse and poor outcomes
  • Clients who are able to contract for participation in treatment and services, and remain free from substance misuse
  • Clients who have a recovery-oriented, evidence-based treatment plan in place

Why It Matters

While the supply of housing in the Greater Nashua area appears to be adequate, individuals relying on disability benefits or low-pay positions rarely can afford local rental rates. Their choices are to join a long, 3-5 year waiting list or live under unsafe, unsanitary, and even illegal circumstances.

Greater Nashua Mental Health assists clients in need of subsidized housing with minimal supported housing needs through development of a roommate-matching service, sometimes coupled with small stipends to bridge the unaffordable gap until more permanent solutions to their housing situations are arranged.

Call (603) 889-6147