Tax credits help fund supportive housing in Gilford, Wolfeboro

Two projects aimed at providing local housing got a boost recently thanks to grants of tax credits from the state’s Community Development Finance Authority.

The Home Possible Project, which seeks to create a supportive residence for adults with development disabilities, was awarded $150,000 in tax credits, while Lakes Region Community Developers was given $500,000 toward Phase III of its Harriman Hill workforce housing development in Wolfeboro.

The awards were announced among $6.6 million in total tax credit disbursements on June 17.

The CDFA tax credit program allows nonprofits to solicit donations from businesses or individuals in lieu of tax liabilities.

The Home Possible Project, headquartered in Gilford, has been working for more than a year to create a permanent home for adults whose developmental disability requires supportive care. The goal is to create a home where people may live, in their community, with a peer group and with the care they need.

Formed by a group of local parents, all with the same worry of how their children will fare after they’re no longer able to take care of them, first went to the town of Gilford in 2024, asking at Town Meeting for a parcel of unused land. Voters declined, but later that year the group was put right back on track with a tract of land, six acres given by the First United Methodist Church, which has extended a 99-year lease in exchange for $1 per year.

Getting access to land was a critical milestone, said Gary and Lisa DiMartino, two of the parents who founded Home Possible. The group is currently working with a local engineering and architectural firm to finalize designs for a building, and they hope to present their plans to the town’s Planning Board within the next few months.

Before they would be able to act on those plans, though, the group also has to raise enough money to pay for construction, and that’s where the CDFA tax credits come in. The award, $150,000, will be used to “expand organizational capacity,” according to the terminology of the award, of The Home Possible Project. In other words, the grant will allow the organization to hire a consultant to lead its soon-to-be-launched capital campaign.

“We have to go out and raise money, We’re already doing that on a smaller level,” said Gary DiMartino. “We need to really enhance that a lot. This grant’s going to be used to reach out, get experts in the field who can do this to a higher degree.”

For help identifying grant possibilities for supportive housing projects, The Home Possible Project has already partnered with Lakes Region Community Developers. That group, based in Laconia, received $500,000 in tax credits in this round of awards, as well.

Lakes Region Community Developers will use the grant to support the development of Harrison Hill, a workforce housing project in Wolfeboro, Phase III of which will create affordable rental units for low- and moderate-income families. Five units will be reserved for residents with developmental disabilities.

“These tax credits are critical to our ability to get this workforce housing development into construction,” said Carmen Lorentz, executive director of Lakes Region Community Developers. “Due to continued pressures with pricing, we’ve had to take on bridge financing so we can get construction going this summer while we raise more funds. We hope the local business community will support the project by purchasing our tax credits.”