BY TIMOTHY LAROCHE
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CLAREMONT — In any Claremont classroom with more than 13 students, it’s statistically likely that at least one is homeless.
On Monday, the Planning Board unanimously granted a conditional use permit for a project that would put a roof over their heads.
The approval allows Claremont Learning Partnership to develop residential spaces on the first floor of unused office space at 169 Main St.
Since the beginning of the school year, the Claremont School District has identified more than 130 students who fit the McKinney Vento Act definition of homelessness.
That figure, Claremont Learning Partnership Treasurer Trinity Dix said, means a substantial portion of students go throughout the day “not knowing where they’re going to sleep tonight.”
The partnership is a nonprofit organization that advocates for access to education. In Claremont, the group works with the homeless.
Dix was joined by other members of the group — all members of Families in Transition, the Claremont School District’s homeless services team.
Monday’s vote enables the group a foundation to move forward with plans to host transitional housing for homeless teens.
“Anything we can do to help these teens is what we are trying to do,” Dix said.
The property, which is also home to several other nonprofit groups, lies within the city’s downtown mixed-use district.
Although much of the district bars residential developments on the ground level without a zoning variance, the building lies in a section of the district in which zoning codes allow for conditional first-floor residential development.
Before the project can advance further, the group will need to develop a site plan and make structural improvements to the building.
The vision for the project, Dix explained, is to create transitional housing to serve four to 12 people at a time between the ages of 16 and 22. Priority for housing would be earmarked for young parents.
“This is a population in Claremont that is struggling; that is couch surfing,” Dix said. “We are looking to take some of them in and offer some supports around that, having that under one roof.”
The program would work in conjunction with several other city nonprofits, many of which are located right across the hall from the proposed site. Tenants would have easy access to the One-4-All space, a grant-funded childcare facility for teenage parents, Baby Steps Family Assistance Program, WIC nutritional assistance, Jobs for America’s Graduates all in the same building. Southwestern Community Services, Turning Points and TLC Family Resource Center also have nearby facilities.
The overarching goal behind the project is to provide an environment in which homeless youth can continue pursuing a basic education, attain job skills and save money until they are able to move out.
“We want to support their efforts for making a better life for themselves by providing them with secure, safe and stable environment,” Dix said.
Homeless teens face considerable financial challenges often becoming locked in cycles of generational poverty. As property manager Allen Croteau noted, minors are unable to sign leases. While Claremont is home to a homeless shelter operated by Southwestern Community Services, the shelter does not serve unaccompanied youth under 18-years old, leading to a gap in services for homeless teens.
“Young ladies and young men who have become parents are at a great risk of not finishing school, and not all have the support from their families,” Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin said. “In many cases, that support is not available.”
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