Manchester Street non-profit opens doors, aims to be ‘a bridge back to successful sober living’

MANCHESTER, NH – Last January, Steve Richard of Hooksett received a call from his broker concerning a building at 99 -101 Manchester St. that was on the market.

Richard, the CEO of Rockport Properties, is in the business of rehabbing distressed multi-family apartment buildings in Manchester and then renting them out to those with housing choice vouchers (formerly Section 8), typically single moms, a decision he and his wife, Michele (cq), made early on.

“We have way more people than places to rent,” he said.

When he saw the Manchester Street building, he knew immediately what he wanted to do with it:  Turn it into a sober house for men just released from 30-day rehab programs.  He envisioned a faith-based organization, affiliated with city churches and businesses, coming together to help these men over the next six months to a year, continue their sobriety, get back on their feet, find a job and get the individualized help they need. The ultimate goal is for each man to maintain a drug-free, independent life.

He said in the men’s group at his church, Zeal Movement Church, there are about a dozen members who are in recovery from addiction, successful men who own their own homes and businesses.  He said what made those 12 men succeed, where so many others fail, is that they were in a treatment program for six to 12 months, not 30 days.

“You can’t unpack someone’s trauma in 30 days,” Richard said.  “That’s just not a thing.  Human beings are just more complex than that.”

At the time he was pondering buying the building, he said, his church, Zeal Movement, had been talking about operating a sober house.  However, at that time the church was not, and still isn’t, in the position to do it, he said.

So, all he could do was think and dream about that building.  In the end, he bought it a month later.  Richard didn’t say what it cost but the city has assessed the building at $686,500.

AmeriCorps leases the first floor but the upper floors, which consists of 14 single, double and triple rooms, were used by City Year personnel.  Those rooms will now provide housing for those 25 men enrolled in the sober house.

It turns out Richard wasn’t the only one looking for a solution to the city’s homeless and addicted population.  Victoria Sullivan for months was meeting with groups around the city discussing what needed to be done.  In late January, Zeal Movement Church, 811 Canal St., allowed Sullivan to hold a meeting there to discuss the need.

The meetings resulted in people starting to develop a plan of action, Sullivan said.  “We want to lift people up and out of poverty, out of addiction and on to a successful path, “ she said.  “Of course, we needed a residence in order to support the people we were trying to help.  And Steve found a building.”

The two didn’t meet until two months ago.

Richard said when he met with Sullivan and Brittany Ping and “discovered like-minded people with a bigger vision, that’s when we came to the conclusion this is not an individual church. This is really a group of people who want to help the people of Manchester.”

Together they formed Freedom Movement NH (FMNH) on June 30, 2023, and filed papers to be a charitable trust with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office to establish the non-profit.

FMNH, Richard said, is a faith-based non-profit providing a safe, sober environment that uses a whole-body approach to liberate people from addiction and provide a path to a lifetime of independence

Board members include Sullivan, Richard, Ping, Shayne Bernier and Marian L. Ward of Concord.  Board members all belong to different churches and are all volunteers.  All that’s needed to participate is a heart, according to Richard.

Freedom Movement uses 157 Amory St. (Ping’s business address for Ledgeview Commercial Partners) for their mailing address and for people to drop off donations.

The planning board gave their approval for the sober house to house 25 men and the first week in August, four took up residence.

Richard said the best way to describe the operations is “we are a bridge back to successful independent living.  Day 31, you come out of a treatment center.  Where do you go?  You’re an addict. You’ve destroyed all relationships.  You’ve stolen from everybody.  So, you have no relationships and you’re now 30 days sober.  Where do you go?”

Richard and Sullivan said neither of them are recovering addicts or have the expertise to help these men continue in their drug-free path.  Bernier, Richard said, is someone who has been in their shoes and has seven years of sobriety.  He only recently became a new dad.

Bernier’s full-time job is as an outreach worker for GateHouse Treatment.  GateHouse has a $295,000 contract with the city to reach out to those living on the streets and suffering from substance use disorder and try to get them into a 30-day treatment program.

“Although we are not affiliated with Gatehouse, it is one of the organizations we are working with to help find housing,” Sullivan said.  “Shayne’s connections within the community and his ability to do outreach makes him an incredibly valuable member of our team.” He is screening individuals for the program, she said.

Sullivan explained that the sober house is not for everyone.  Anyone living there must ultimately be able to find and maintain a job.

She said many people in Manchester are of the mindset that people living on the streets want to be there.

“It’s because they’ve been traumatized,” she said. “A lot of people came here because of Safe Station that promised them a lot of help but they were so overwhelmed, they were unable to deliver on those services and these people were left on our streets.”

She said the project hopes not only to help the men return to a productive, successful life but reconnect them to their families in a much healthier state.  That, she said, includes helping those who came from out-of-state return home but also with connections to continuing services in their home community.

It is expensive to operate a sober house, including employing a house manager and other staff.

The numbers of men taken in will increase gradually because of the cost of the operation.  When housing the full complement of 25, Richard estimates it will cost $300,000 a year.

When the men first arrive, he said they are charged nothing.  However, after about a month or two, Richard said it will be time to help get them a job, one that is at least 30 hours a week.

“That’s where the businesses come in,” he said.  “There’s a need for workers and we are hopeful they will get the training they need and we can connect them with local businesses that will give these people a second, third or fourth shot at getting back on their feet.”

Once established, the men will be expected to pay $200 a week for their rooms while saving 25 percent of their pay.  The idea, Richard said, is that at the end of a year they will have about $5,000 to $7,000 to use for a first month and security deposit on an apartment or to purchase a used car.

The rent will help cover some basic costs.  “It also helps with their accountability and getting them back on their feet,” Sullivan said.

Richard said the program is only a sliver of a solution to the homeless and addiction problem “but we’ll have the ability to affect 25 men at a time.”

Richard said they’ve applied for grants but it’s going to be six to 12 months before they get responses.

In the meantime, Freedom Movement has launched a campaign to raise $100,000 to cover the first six to nine months of expenses.  They are also asking for donations of various items including: dressers (good quality, no bugs); new twin mattresses; twin bed bug protectors; sheets, blankets, comforters; new pillows; quality cookware; toaster ovens; towels; facecloths; shampoo; soap; a weed whacker (to clear out the back of the building); toilet paper; paper towels; dish soap bathroom cleaning supplies; AC units; financial support.

Anyone may make a financial donation here.