Belknap House completed first, successful year; thank you

To The Daily Sun,

As we approach a new year, Belknap House reflects on our first year of operation. Belknap House is the new cold weather emergency shelter for families in Belknap County. At this time last year, we were in the midst of a complete overhaul of our new property at 200 Court St., Laconia. Due to the generosity of many individuals, businesses, civic organizations, the faith community and grants, we were able to tackle many road blocks as they came our way — removing lead paint, asbestos, all new windows and doors, refitting all new bathrooms and a kitchen, to name a few. We were finally able to open our doors the beginning of March and to welcome our first families. The excitement on the faces of our employees and volunteers was pure joy, as we knew we had finally made it. Thank you to all our supporters. We could not have done it without you.

This past summer we reopened as a hostel to help earn much needed income to help operating costs throughout the year. We started out slow, but by July we were booking more and more and weekends were typically full. Belknap House Hostel earned a good reputation for itself and high scores on both booking.com and HostelWorld. We look forward to another good season next summer to assist our winter shelter season.

Belknap House has a full-time staff and 20 active shelter volunteers. Since the shelter opened Oct 16, 2017, our volunteers have logged over 500 hours of service. Volunteers have dedicated their time from day to overnight shifts and on Thanksgiving and Christmas Days as well. We are truly blessed by a wonderful group of people and we could not do what we do without them.

Belknap House provides hope to families by providing a warm bed, shelter and food. Basic needs. However, we go one step further in offering skill building and education for parents to help them towards self-sufficiency. In collaboration with the Family Resource Center, families can work on goals towards their future. Working toward a goal is an important piece for families to be able to move forward and getting back on their feet.

We would like to thank the community for their outpouring of support to help our families have a wonderful Christmas and help with our operations. The generosity shown by so many was incredibly heart warming.

Belknap House is always in need of volunteers, such as, shelter assistants, fundraising and publicity assistants and board members. Do you have a few hours to spare? We are also in need of material donations for the household and office. There is a Wish List on our Facebook and webpage. Our website is www.belknaphouse.org. Monetary donations can be made on our website or at our physical location: 200 Court St., Laconia, N.H. 03246. You may also give us a call at 603-527-8097 for more information. Your continued support will insure housing and stability for families this winter.

Colleen K. Garrity, President

Kathryn Holt, Executive Director

Belknap House

Laconia