Happy Holidays From WHC

Your Gift Supports A Strong Seacoast Workforce!

Home. Not just a place, but a sense of security. Where you always feel welcome. Unfortunately, it can be hard to make a home of the Greater Seacoast region. The search for an affordable apartment or a modest single-family home often ends in disappointment… After all, who wants to choose between housing that’s rundown, and possibly unsafe, or housing that’s far from work and family?

The Workforce Housing Coalition invites you to be part of the solution. With the support of our members, we tackle the complex issues that contribute to our region’s limited housing options. We educate communities about the benefits of workforce housing -- apartments, condos and single-family homes that are affordable to people of modest means. And we offer planners and developers advice on how to meet the need. Since our inception in 2001, we’ve helped over 20 communities improve their housing regulations. In turn, local developers have created over 200 new units of workforce housing.

When you become a member of the Workforce Housing Coalition, you send a message that you value the contributions of teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, and so many others who are priced out of our communities. Shouldn’t they have the option of being our neighbors? We think so.

I know a family you’d welcome into your town. Chris Kiberd is a nine year veteran of the Portsmouth Police Department. His wife Brenda is a nurse at St. Ann Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Dover. They are raising a beautiful baby girl. A few years ago, they purchased a home in Rochester, where greater affordability gave them more options. But living so far away from work and family has become a strain. Chris says, “Together we pay over $70 dollars a month just in tolls. We pay three times that for gas.” They feel disconnected from their support systems to the south. “I grew up in Portsmouth, but we can’t afford to live there,” Brenda laments. “It’s hard living away from family and friends, and it’s especially isolating when you’re trying to raise a child.”

Who needs workforce housing?  Those who take care of our children, our seniors and our communities. Become a member of the Workforce Housing Coalition today and give voice to these hard-working people.  Together we can ensure that our Seacoast communities provide housing opportunities for all.