Enfield
“We’re excited to work with the communities to get people the supports that they need,” said Sylvia Kluge Dow, executive director of Visions for Creative Housing Solutions.
The nonprofit currently runs one home in Enfield, which provides housing for 10 individuals and employs 16 people. Using the grant money, the organization has plans to expand to six additional locations over the next five years, Dow said.
“We have an extensive waiting list of people who need the supports that we provide,” she said.
The organization hopes to expand first into the Lebanon area, where Dow is currently looking to purchase a multi-family home with three to four apartments. Unlike group homes, where residents live together, Visions for Creative Housing adheres to a model where residents have their own apartment within a setting that provides all the additional support that they need.
“The generation that we’re serving now really wants to be in their own apartments living as independently as possible,” Dow said.
She said she believes that difference is what caught the attention of the Housing Finance Authority.
“We have a very good track record of supporting individuals to remain as independent as possible and to remain productive in the community,” Dow said.
As part of the expansion, Visions for Creative Housing will be hiring two to eight staff members per house. The organization is now hiring for the Enfield location. Dow said volunteers are always appreciated, as well.
In addition to supporting expansion, the grant money will allow Dow to craft a toolkit for other nonprofits looking to provide supported housing for disabled adults.
“The grant to Visions for Creative Housing will leverage its experience in the Upper Valley to develop much needed supportive housing in other parts of the state,” Dean Christon, executive director of Housing Finance Authority, said in a news release.