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With Record Cold Weather Here, Concord is Still Without a Homeless Shelter

Jack Rodolico

With snow and sub-zero temperatures projected across New Hampshire for the next few nights, the city of Concord is still without a winter shelter for its homeless residents. The shelter is slated to open soon, but not by Thursday night, when the temperature is expected to plummet. 

That puts anyone sleeping on the street or in a tent at risk of frostbite or even death. Ellen Groh, the executive director of the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness, says a lot of the city's chronically homeless do have family and friends that can shelter them - briefly.

"For short periods of time they do have a personal network that they can tap into," says Groh.

The cold snap comes as an annual report from the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness finds the overall rate of homelessness in the state is decreasing. However, the rate is on the rise in Sullivan County and it's basically stagnant for children across much of New Hampshire. 

Before joining NHPR in August 2014, Jack was a freelance writer and radio reporter. His work aired on NPR, BBC, Marketplace and 99% Invisible, and he wrote for the Christian Science Monitor and Northern Woodlands.
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