Program Summary

Isaiah 58 NH addresses homelessness and housing insecurity in Western Rockingham County by creating affordable housing units and assisting those in need with monthly assistance and also by addressing the underlying causes that create financial instability and limit the self-sufficiency of our clients. In addition to walking along side our clients helping them to deal with actual homelessness and housing insecurity, we also address health stressors related to their situation by providing clients with coach/counselors and providing other needed services.

Isaiah 58’s goal is to eliminate housing insecurity in New Hampshire. All New Hampshire individuals and families should be afforded safe, secure, and affordable housing as a foundation for a productive life.

About Isaiah 58

Isaiah 58 NH is an officially-recognized 501c3 non-profit incorporated in the state of New Hampshire. Its office is located in Hampstead, NH.

Isaiah 58 NH is managed by an uncompensated twelve member Board of Directors. Each member provides the organization with financial support and together offer hundreds of hours of volunteer service. Their combined professional background and life experiences are critical to the success of moving Isaiah’s mission forward.

The executive director, and two case workers are part-time, compensated employees.

Isaiah 58 NH partners with local governmental agencies and other mainstream entities to identify families/ individuals who may not qualify.

Services

Our clients are part of the growing number of families who spend more than 50% of their income on housing and are housing insecure. The need for our support and services is a direct result of a shortage of available, affordable housing in the western portion of the county where we are located.

Isaiah 58 NH sets expectations that focus first on increasing affordable housing stock, providing support services, and expanding our organizational capabilities. By using a disciplined process for acquiring and renovating rental properties we not only expand the housing inventory available to our target population, but we build a modest revenue stream of below-market rental fees that fund ongoing maintenance and frees up other funds to support our services or acquire new housing.

Isaiah 58 NH has purchased and renovated 5 mobile homes in a “Resident Owned Community”, one condominium apartment and a commercial property with two apartments and space for our Donation Center. Isaiah 58 NH also leases an additional four apartment units in an apartment complex. All these units are offered at below market rates. The rates vary depending on the clients ability to pay a rent which is no more than 30% to 40% of their income.

In addition to providing affordable housing, Isaiah 58 NH offers a variety of support services including monthly rental assistance, utilities, food, and clothing assistance, case management, life skill coaching, job assistance, and other necessary supports to individuals in need in Rockingham County. Isaiah 58 NH also advocates for clients with the other social service agencies in western Rockingham County and works collaboratively with those agencies to provide clients with a full range of services to respond to their needs.

Isaiah 58 NH operates a Donation and Distribution Center in Salem, NH. This program provides clothing, household items and furniture free to anyone in need.

History

Isaiah 58 NH is the vision of its founder, retired Lutheran Pastor, The Rev. David E. Yasenka of Hampstead, NH. His ministry of over 30 years in Salem, NH included extensive efforts to combat the largely hidden, but persistent problem of homelessness in New Hampshire. As a Pastor, he was socially active in the community, encouraging the faith communities to not only feed the hungry through food pantries but also to shelter the homeless and support those with housing issues. As part of the church’s outreach ministry (Isaiah 58 Ministry), his congregation provided rent and utility assistance to those in need in the community, providing individuals and families with shelter in apartments and mobile homes, and when necessary housed the homeless in the church.

When given a donation of a manufactured home, a journey began which would soon lead to the formation of Isaiah 58 New Hampshire. Upon his retirement in 2014, Reverend Yasenka turned his attention to the problem of affordable housing on a full time basis and founded Isaiah 58 NH as a secular 501c3 nonprofit with the intent of providing safe and affordable housing to those in need.

The initial goals of Isaiah 58 New Hampshire included bringing one additional affordable housing unit onto the market annually. The board quickly realized Isaiah 58 NH could be more effective by using our assets for multiple families by providing rent assistance and support services, in addition to securing our own housing units. For example, by partnering with a local bank Isaiah 58 NH was able to provide funds to alleviate a problem related to safe oil delivery and storage at a local manufactured housing resident owned community. This initiative enabled oil to be delivered to eight rental units, which otherwise would have gone without heat for the winter.

The Reverend Yasenka directed Isaiah 58’s mission as a full time, pro bono endeavor for eight years. He has also effectively sought the support of community leaders and elected officials including NH’s Governors, and U.S. and State Senators and Representatives. A number of businesses, charitable organizations, foundations, as well as federal, state, county, and town governments and individuals have provided generous financial support to Isaiah 58 enabling it to meet, and at times exceed our goals during our eight years of operation.

Objectives

Goal 1: Create a minimum of one new safe, sustainable and affordable housing unit each year.

• Secure funding for at least one housing unit per year as our first priority.

• As the number of housing units we operate grows, use the income from subsidized rental payments to maintain those units and ultimately make them self-sustaining. The objective is to allocate new funding to the acquisition of additional units and case management services.

• Maintain active and ongoing efforts to identify potential new housing units that align with our current financial capacity and meet all applicable regulatory requirements.

Goal 2: Continue housing supportive assistance helping families/individuals remain in their existing homes.

• Utilize Isaiah 58 NH staff and volunteer as caseworkers/coaches.

• Partner with other agencies to provide monetary and/or support services required by these families.

Goal 3: Develop the infrastructure, organization, and capabilities required to address the needs of our target clients.

• Maintain a primary focus on the acquisition and operation of safe, sustainable and affordable housing units in order to add to the state’s available inventory of affordable housing.

• Acquire unrestricted funding to support administrative, management, and personnel costs.

• Maintain an active Board of Directors that includes individuals with management skills, community leadership roles, and specialized knowledge that is specific to our mission.

• Expand our volunteer network and seek specific skills that best align with our mission and operational model.

• Present the leanest organization possible to the public and potential donors who want to see our resources going directly to the delivery of housing and support services to our clients.

Goal 4: Raise awareness of the affordable housing crisis in NH and Isaiah’s model for creating safe, sustainable and affordable housing units along with assisting clients with needed support. Increase our network of volunteers who enable us to maximize the use of our resources for direct client support, while limiting administrative costs.

• Leverage the power of “word of mouth” in promoting our success, in delivering service and in raising funds.

• Build our name identification by differentiating Isaiah 58 NH as an organization with solutions that address both the problem of affordable housing, homelessness and the underlying root causes.

• Use our established local identity to attract volunteers who will value having a key role in the growth of our community effort.

• Emphasize our strong support from respected state and local leaders to reinforce our credibility within the service community and with funders.

Goal 5: Fully integrate Isaiah 58 NH into the Continuum of Care for the state of NH and achieve access to public funding aligned with our mission. Isaiah 58 NH recognizes that in order to implement our long-term vision, we must be able to secure some level of public funding that supports our mission.

• Build and maintain relationships with all federal, state, and local entities that supply funding or services to the homeless and housing insecure.

• Attend regular state, regional, and local meetings with governmental agencies that provide public funding for the homeless or housing insecure.

• Seek, as appropriate, to align our operating model, data collection, and information reporting capabilities to the requirements of public funding entities.

• Earn a “seat at the table” with other organizations and have a voice as part of the NH Continuum of Care.

Goal 6: Grow our financial resources by expanding Isaiah 58 NH’s access to private and foundation funding, through collaboration with complementary organizations or agencies and the use of effective grant writing.

• Increase our name identification by actively seeking opportunities to explain our mission to potential funders or opinion-influencers in the donor community.

• Build relationships with the major private funders and foundations in NH.

• Develop a professional level of grant writing skills within our organization.

• Actively seek to collaborate with other organizations serving similar clients, and where there is an opportunity for both parties to benefit from that collaboration as we seek grant funding.