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Congratulations to Allie Reyes - 2019 Hope Starts Here Scholarship Recipient
Allie hopes to continue advocating for ending youth homelessness through college and beyond.
Allie Reyes is like most 19 year old girls. She likes shopping, staying up to date on the latest technology trends, and spending time outside. A native of Portsmouth, she has also dealt with homelessness for much of her young life. She was placed in a group home at age 14, and faced the prospect of having nowhere to go once she aged out of foster care when she turned 18.
"A couple months before I was about to age out, everyone was scrambling to find me a place to go," Allie said. Eventually, Allie's case workers set her up at a former foster home until she got accepted into a Dover transitional living program run by Waypoint.
"That program is super amazing," said Allie, speaking of Waypoint. "It's centrally located, so I was able to get a job down the street from here and work and save a bunch of money and start applying for colleges."
Allie's experience with homelessness has inspired her to advocate for others. "I'm not a religious person, but sometimes I was like, 'Why me? Why me?' Why am I the one out of all these people to experience these problems, but then I recognize my own strength, and I experienced this so that I can speak on it, and so that I can offer an articulate voice and educate people about it from a place of experience."
Earlier this year, Allie spoke alongside other seacoast area teens at a Home For All (formerly the Greater Seacoast Coalition to End Homelessness) event in Rochester, and voiced her support for New Hampshire's family reunification voucher program as a means to help children who age out of foster care obtain rental assistance. Last October, she was invited to Washington, D.C. to bring the issue of youth homelessness to the national stage, and will go back in a few weeks to keep fighting for change.
The Hope Starts Here Scholarship is open to New Hampshire youth under the age of 21. Applicants must be actively pursuing post-secondary education, such as college or vocational training programs, and be eligible for McKinney-Vento assistance. Allie plans to use the scholarship to ease her financial burden when she starts college at UNH this fall.
"It's going to go towards tuition, and books, and supplies. And it's going to help me avoid loans, which is always great!" said Allie.
We are proud to award Allie the 2019 Hope Starts Here Scholarship, and wish her the best with her academic and career endeavours.
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Therese Seibert Becomes New NHCEH Board Chair
 NHCEH is pleased to announce that Therese Seibert has been elected as the new board chair for the NHCEH. Therese joined the NHCEH board in early 2018, and we have benefited immensely from the perspective she brings to our collective efforts to prevent and end homelessness.
As a professor of sociology at Keene State College for over 20 years, Therese teaches courses in the areas of research, methods, ethnic relations, and genocide. Early on in her career at Keene State, she directed the Community Research Center, which partnered students with local and state agencies on research projects. A key partner was the NH Bureau of Housing and Homeless Services, now referred to as the Bureau of Housing Support. Out of this partnership emerged the service-learning course titled "Homeless in NH and USA," which Therese has been teaching since 2010. In this course, students have worked closely with the 100 Nights emergency shelter in Keene. They also conduct and publicly present research on homelessness in order to generate ideas for ending it locally. The NHCEH has been a steadfast support to students in these courses, particularly in the areas of research and
advocacy.
Therese's work has earned her Keene State's 2007 Outstanding Teaching Award, the 2011 Susan J. Herman Award, and the 2019 KSC President's Outstanding Women of NH Award.
Please join us in welcoming Therese to her new leadership role with the NHCEH!
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Homeless Advocate Leader Collaborative
Homeless service providers get together to build camaraderie and plan for the future.
After weeks of planning, the NHCEH was able to gather area homelessness leaders together earlier this month at Concord Hospital to discuss ways to coordinate efforts to address homelessness on a statewide level. Individuals representing municipalities and area agencies shared their thoughts on regional issues such as low vacancy rates, landlords not accepting certain housing subsidy programs, and lack of services to help people who are experiencing homelessness.
Current news and initiatives were also discussed, including state funding updates, efforts to end veteran homelessness, and expanded Medicaid availability for tenancy supports. Attendees then broke into smaller groups and brainstormed lists of top challenges for homeless individuals and service providers and key innovations happening in their regions that can benefit everyone.
Moving forward, this group will continue to share expertise and work collectively on ways to implement positive changes that will prevent and end homelessness in New Hampshire.
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NHICH Meeting
The NHCEH leads the NH Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness (NHICH), which is responsible for developing, coordinating, and making recommendations for statewide policy and resource allocation to address significant facets of homelessness. Our next NHICH meeting is on Friday, September 27 from 9 to 11 AM in Room 206 of the NH Legislative Office Building, 33 N. State Street in Concord.
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