Legislation sponsored by Democratic State Sen. Donovan Fenton of Keene would appropriate $5 million to help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Under Senate Bill 406, the money would be provided to towns and cities, which would use the funds to help people avoid eviction, find a new place to live or access temporary shelter.

“A lot of us wake up with a roof over our head, have a hot meal, put on fresh clothes, warm up our car and go to work, but the dark reality is that a lot of people don’t have even one of these things,” Fenton said Tuesday.

He noted that his mother, JoAnn Fenton, was homeless for a time as a young woman. Fenton’s family, which owns automobile dealerships, has made major contributions to Hundred Nights, a Keene nonprofit that provides shelter and crisis services.

Mindy Cambiar, Hundred Nights executive director, welcomes any potential increase in state funding. She said her organization and others are noticing a high demand for emergency shelter beds. “There are still quite a few people who are trying to make it outside right now,” Cambiar said. “I wish when it was really, really cold that there were more accommodations that could be made to bring people in out of the cold.”

Temperatures were in the mid-20s in Keene on Tuesday.

The high cost of housing contributes to the problem of homelessness. The average statewide vacancy rate last year was under 1 percent, and median rent on a two-bedroom apartment was $1,764, according to N.H. Housing’s 2023 Residential Rental Cost Survey Report.

“I just had an employee who was evicted with her children because her landlord raised the rent and she just can’t afford it,” Cambiar said.

There is a direct link between lack of affordable housing in New Hampshire and people experiencing homelessness, said Elissa Margolin, director of Housing Action NH, a nonprofit that works on improving housing policy.

Major companies, including engineering firms and hospitals, have had trouble recruiting workers to well-paid positions because there isn’t enough available housing.

“Now imagine a single parent, perhaps a lower wage-earner with a couple of kids trying to navigate this market, and you realize how hostile it could be,” she said.

People in tenuous financial straits could quickly lose their housing and not be able to replace it after a personal crisis, perhaps related to medical care, addiction or domestic violence, she said.

Lawmakers have been trying to boost housing supplies and stem homelessness.

The two-year budget signed by Gov. Chris Sununu last year provided $50 million to tackle the lack of affordable housing and another $10 million to boost support for homeless shelters. Fenton’s bill will be presented in a Senate committee this week.

There are several housing measures in play this session:

Senate Bill 519 would give tenants 60 days to vacate rental housing when the owner is planning to repair or rehabilitate the structure. There is currently a 30-day notice requirement.

Senate Bill 364 would provide a tax credit for those who preserve a historic structure and use it for residential rental housing.

Several measures would allow changes in municipal zoning laws to encourage the development of residential housing.

Margolin, of Housing Action NH, said government-led efforts underway or planned should eventually help with housing shortages. “But, it took many years to get into this problem, and it will take many years to feel some relief, even though we are taking some steps forward.”

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