By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT-On Monday, May 16, 2022, Sullivan County held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new sober living facility, the Sullivan House.
Located at 19 Sullivan Street in Claremont, the Sullivan House will be a transitional housing facility for people that have completed substance use treatment programs. After receiving approval for a general obligation bond on April 26, 2021, the Sullivan House project was able to begin. The 19 Sullivan Street location, built in 1930, required a series of renovations including excavating the basement level, as well as connecting the water and sewer pipes to the city’s public system.
Also, the interior was sandblasted to remove a coating that was part of the building’s original design. A number of volunteers have been aiding in a beautification process by watering and planting shrubs outside of the building.
The facility will be a voluntary living situation, primarily for people who have completed the TRAILS program. Transitional Reentry and Inmate Life Skills, or TRAILS, is a program provided by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections to lower the recidivism rates in New Hampshire.
Through intensive rehabilitation and education, the program helps inmates to transition back into society with Life Skills groups, Drug and Alcohol Education, and Job Readiness. TRAILS graduates 65-75 people each year, however, roughly half of graduates do not have safe or stable housing after being released from jail. Studies from NH Transitional Housing have found that people with sober housing opportunities for up to 12 months have a 95 percent chance of long term success.
The Sullivan House intends to house up to 38 men and women, with the building design calling for living spaces for 14 women and 24 men. However, it is expected that the occupancy rate will be consistently lower than that. Men and women will be housed in separate areas of the facility with security measures and protocols in place for the sake of everyone’s safety. The building will also feature security cameras on the inside and outside. Residents of the Sullivan House are required to perform 40 hours of work, educational training and/or community service as a prerequisite for housing.
This makes Sullivan House’s downtown location ideal as it will allow residents who lack adequate transportation the ability to commute on foot to and from potential employment. Sullivan County hopes to see similar outcomes as other nearby transitional housing, where residents performing community service have positively impacted their towns and cities.
The Sullivan County New Hampshire website stated that the project has received a number of loans and grants including $1.2 million loan from NH Housing Finance Authority, a $1.1 million bond through NH Municipal Bond Bank, $744,741 from County assignments, $500,000 from the NH Community Development Finance Authority, Community Development Block Grant program, $50,000 from the USDA Rural Development Grant, Community Facilities Grant Program, and $50,000 from Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, on behalf of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic.
Sullivan County is not required to pay taxes on the property, but has discussed the option of payment in lieu of taxes with the city so as to not add a tax burden to the citizens of Claremont.
At a public hearing held on May 16, 2022, as part of a requirement for the application with the Community Development Block Grant, Sullivan County hopes to receive an additional $164,672 as a result of high prices due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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