Funded Projects Underscore New Hampshire’s Significant Need for Affordable Housing, Child Care and Revitalization Efforts to Drive Economic Development
(Concord, N.H.) – The New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA) announced today it has awarded $6.6 million in tax credits to projects throughout New Hampshire. The funds will have a significant impact on initiatives that advance local community economic development goals and build capacity within New Hampshire’s nonprofit sector.
Organizations across the state being awarded funds are helping to address some of New Hampshire’s most significant challenges, including access to affordable housing and quality child care, innovative approaches to workforce development, and revitalization efforts to drive economic development and create vibrant community hubs.
Applications for the Tax Credit Program nearly doubled year-over-year, demonstrating a significant need for funds to support infrastructure projects across the state that are meeting important needs within New Hampshire communities. There also continued to be a significant request for resources within the Community Economic Development Capacity Building Program, demonstrating the demand for funding dedicated to supporting the ability of nonprofit organizations to advance important initiatives.
“The organizations awarded Tax Credit resources have demonstrated a strong commitment to their communities,” commented Katy Easterly Martey, Executive Director, CDFA. “These organizations, coupled with the reliable resources through CDFA year-over-year, will continue to advance important community-based projects within New Hampshire communities that really make a difference to Granite Staters.”
Easterly Martey continued, “Overall, the 2024 Tax Credit Round signals that New Hampshire nonprofits and municipalities are continuing to leverage an influx of resources to advance community-based projects, as well as recognize a critical need to access resources that will help grow their capacity.”
The following organizations have been awarded tax credits from CDFA for their respective projects.
- Arts in Reach (Durham) – $312,500: Arts in Reach (AIR) will use tax credits to support the reconstruction of a barn on their newly acquired campus into a safe, inclusive, and accessible center for creative youth development programming and community-wide connection and resources. AIR has been providing free evidence-based and trauma-informed arts programming to girls and gender-expansive youth ages 11-22 across the Seacoast for 27 years. This will be their first-ever dedicated facility, allowing AIR to serve exponentially more young people, helping them discover a sense of self, belonging, and purpose.
- Bethlehem Redevelopment Association for Friends of the Colonial (Bethlehem) – $100,000: Friends of the Colonial will use tax credits for facility improvements that will allow the Colonial Theatre to grow economic activity and increase access to arts programming within the region. The Colonial expects to be net zero in electricity consumption by the end of 2025 as a result of the improvements. The project includes the installation of a solar array, upgrades to lighting and projection equipment to address safety and energy efficiency, as well as other energy related improvements identified by a CDFA funded Level II energy audit. The Colonial Theatre has been the anchor for Main Street businesses and at the forefront of revitalization in Bethlehem.
- Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua (Nashua) – $625,000: The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua will use tax credit funding to renovate several spaces within their Club to increase access to quality, affordable child care and address the need for greater mental health support for youth of all ages. The project includes upgrading classrooms to be consistent with state licensing requirements, upgrading the commercial kitchen, building a mental wellness meeting space and a new entryway which improves security.
- Catholic Charities (Peterborough)– $625,000: Catholic Charities will use tax credit funding for the development of 64 units in first phase of an affordable housing project that will ultimately create 94 units in Peterborough that will serve 225 individuals . The project will serve individuals of extremely-low, very low, and low income and will include an on-site Resident Services Coordinator that will direct residents to services and programs. The development is responsive to the significant need for affordable housing, crisis care for mental health, and affordable health care for low-income families in the region identified within the 2021 Regional Community Health Needs Assessment and two follow-up housing market studies.
- Dismas Home of New Hampshire (Manchester) – $450,000: The Dismas Home will use tax credit funds to support the remodeling of a facility Manchester to serve justice-involved women. The organization provides women with transitional housing and the clinical, social and emotional support they need to thrive in the community. Improvements to the property will result in ten bedrooms, a commercial kitchen, living and dining space, clinical and executive office space, and recreational and outdoor gardening space. The new location will significantly increase the number of women the Dismas Home will be able to serve annually.
- Family Promise of Southern New Hampshire (Derry) – $625,000: Family Promise of Southern New Hampshire will use tax credits to support the expansion of their Transitional Housing Program to a second facility in Derry, increasing access to critical services for families within the region. The organization provides housing and case management for families temporarily experiencing homelessness. Renovations will include transforming rooms into nine family suites; improvements to the kitchen, dining and laundry facilities, living room; and the creation of conference room spaces and administrative offices.
- Franconia Soaring Foundation (Franconia) – $437,500: Franconia Soaring Foundation is constructing a 6,600 square foot, net zero, multi-functional training and operations center at the Franconia Airport. The tax credit funds will be used to install a 45,000 KWH/yr solar array and high efficiency heat pumps. The organization’s mission is introducing and inspiring students to pursue careers in the aviation industry. The new facility will include space for training for students, pilots, and visitors year-round in addition to non-aviation-related training programs, recreational and other community activities including serving as an emergency shelter and a training facility for emergency personnel for the surrounding communities.
- Newfound Lake Region Association (Hebron) – $250,000: The Newfound Lake Region Association (NLRA) will use tax credits to support the development of the Grey Rocks Conservation Center that will include 3,500 square feet of community space. The facility is being designed to meet high-performance Passive House standards and include rooftop solar. The location in in Hebron includes an existing non-motorized entry point to Newfound Lake with existing adjacent trails and interpretive signage. By creating a dedicated space for residents to gather, learn, and actively participate in conservation efforts, the Grey Rocks Conservation Center aims to foster a sense of stewardship and connection to the natural environment.
- Aviation Museum of N.H. (Lebanon and Farmington) – $275,000: The Aviation Museum of N.H. is expanding a program for high school students to build a full-scale flyable aircraft during the school year to two new school districts, Lebanon and Farmington. The expansion builds on a successful model first implemented in Manchester and result in the creation of a self-sustaining STEM workforce development program. The project demonstrates the value of creative partnerships between schools, businesses, and nonprofits to enhance opportunities within public school systems in a way that provides students innovative programs at little or no direct cost to local taxpayers.
- The Portsmouth Housing Authority (Portsmouth) – $500,000: The Portsmouth Housing Authority will use tax credit funds to support multi-faceted redevelopment of the Christ Episcopal Church property on Lafayette Road in Portsmouth, including the construction of forty four units of affordable workforce housing. The project would also create a headquarters for HAVEN, a regional domestic violence support provider, and seven transitional housing units for the women and families they serve. Renovated space for Little Blessings Childcare Center, which is currently operating on-site at the property and can provide quality, affordable child care for up to 71 children, will also be completed. The Portsmouth Housing Authority has also committed to preserving and improving access to the historic African Burying Ground at Langdon Farm.
- TLC Family Resource Center (Lebanon) – $62,500: TLC Family Resource Center will utilize tax credits to renovate space for the organization’s new location for delivering recovery and support services in Lebanon. There is significant demand in Lebanon, with many individuals already engaged with the program. Funds will be used to create additional offices for counselors and improve the play space that enables parents to engage in counseling services privately while knowing their children are in a nearby, safe space. Critical services to be delivered at the new location include peer counseling, home visitation, youth and LGBTQ+ supports, parenting education and support, and parenting in recovery programming.
- Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital (Colebrook) – $625,000: Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital is collaborating with North Country Community Recreation Center to create a medically-based wellness center with the renovation and expansion of an existing recreation center in Colebrook. The center will include a recreational pool and therapy pool, fitness gym, indoor walking track, and multipurpose space for classes, workshops, community events, and rehabilitation services. The project will improve access to healthcare and wellness services, as well as recreational opportunities, for those living in rural communities in the North Country.
- White Birch Community Center, Inc. (Henniker) – $250,000: The White Birch Community Center will utilize tax credits to purchase and renovate an additional building in Henniker to create space for expanded senior programming, add family resource center programming, permanently house the Henniker Food pantry and increase capacity for quality, affordable child care with the addition of 13-15 infant spaces. The project will increase access to critical services for the surrounding communities.
- YMCA of Greater Nashua (Merrimack) – $625,000: The YMCA of Greater Nashua will use tax credits to help fund renovations of the Merrimack YMCA Early Education Center. Funds will be used to upgrade the community spaces in the area of its Early Learning Center, which is the portion of the facility which delivers quality, affordable child care services. Renovations will create educational space that will host family programming, activity stations, climbing structures and storage. Funds will also be used to upgrade two classrooms, as well as improve safety and security.
CDFA also awarded tax credit funds for its Community Economic Development Capacity Building Program. New Hampshire needs a strong, effective nonprofit network with the capacity to support our communities and envision, create, and implement broad-based community economic development projects. The awarded Capacity Building resources will support the following organizations in advancing their missions and serving the needs of New Hampshire communities.
CDFA awarded tax credit funds to support capacity building for the following organizations:
- GoodWork (Portsmouth) – $75,000: GoodWork will leverage capacity building resources to build a strong, impactful coalition of organizations providing social services in the Seacoast region. The resources will support the hiring of outside expertise to guide and facilitate the group in advancing health and human service systems to be more equitable while engaging clients to provide feedback and design solutions.
- Lamprey Health Care/Southern NH Area Health Education Center (Southern NH) – $150,000: Resources will be used to support the recently incorporated nonprofit Centro Latino de New Hampshire to build a healthy and civically engaged New Hampshire Latino community through education, services, culture, and arts programming. Capacity building resources will focus on hiring bilingual-bicultural community specialists for community outreach, primarily in Manchester and Nashua.
- Franklin Business & Industrial Development Corporation (Franklin) – $150,000: The Franklin Business and Industrial Development Corporation will utilize capacity building funds to hire experienced consultants to facilitate a collaborative process that brings the community together to create a vibrant future for the Franklin Opera House, City Hall and downtown.
- Great Bay Services, Inc. (Dover) – $150,000: Great Bay Services will use capacity building resources to purchase 12 wheelchair accessible minivans to meet the transportation needs of their clients in Rockingham and Strafford County. By changing the model of how clients are transported, it will build the organizations capacity to support thirty six people with disabilities with reliable, safe access to community activities such as volunteer projects, outdoor walks, employment, education, and entertainment.
- Hundred Nights, Inc. (Keene) – $150,000: Capacity building resources will be used to expand the organization’s positive impact on those at risk of or experiencing homelessness. the organization will also utilize funding for a new position that will collaborate with external stakeholders to develop new opportunities in three priority areas that are essential to meeting basic needs (housing), gaining access to economic opportunity (skill -building), and creating vibrant communities (health/mental health services).
- Family Promise of Southern New Hampshire (Nashua) – $150,000: Family Promise of Southern New Hampshire will use capacity building resources to expand the Prevention/Diversion Program which serves families and individuals who are in crisis as a result of homelessness. Building the capacity of this program with an additional case worker to focus on outreach and services for families and individuals in Rockingham County will enable the organization to expand its impact.
Grants made to organizations are in the form of tax equity. New Hampshire businesses support the selected projects by purchasing the tax credits, resulting in the nonprofit receiving a donation and the company receiving a 75 percent New Hampshire state tax credit against that contribution. The credit can be applied against the Business Profits Tax, Business Enterprise Tax, or Insurance Premium.
To learn more about CDFA, its impact on New Hampshire communities, and available funding resources, visit www.nhcdfa.org.
About the Community Development Finance Authority
The Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA) is a statewide nonprofit public authority focused on maximizing the value and impact of community development, economic development, and clean energy initiatives throughout New Hampshire. The organization leverages a variety of financial and technical resources, including the competitive deployment of grant, loan, and equity programs. Those resources include New Hampshire state tax credits, federal Community Development Block Grant resources and the CDFA Clean Energy Fund. For more information about CDFA and its programs visit www.nhcdfa.org or call 603-226-2170.
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Contact:
Melissa Latham, CDFA
(603) 717-9107
