Housing, clean energy, recreation projects and more get $11 million

Federal awards worth $11 million will help two dozen New Hampshire towns, organizations, and community groups expand housing, invest in green energy, and increase recreation opportunities. The Northern Border Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership for economic and community development in New Hampshire, northern Maine, Vermont, and New York, distributed  $43.6 million in awards across those states. It funded just over half the 46 applications it received from New Hampshire.

Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont was given $500,000 toward a $1.48 million project to build housing for up to eight short-term transitional health care workers, a workforce hospitals have relied on heavily since the pandemic to cover vacant shifts.  

The Monadnock Affordable Housing Corporation received $500,000 to redevelop a vacant school in Keene into 30 apartments for low- and moderate-income individuals. Another $500,000 award will allow the Mount Washington Valley Economic Council and the Avesta Housing Development to pay for road infrastructure needed for 160 units of new affordable housing.

Two organizations received $1 million each for recreation initiatives. Granite State Adaptive will use its funding toward an accessible equine therapeutic center that will have a classroom and indoor arena for youth and teens, veterans, and adults with disabilities. Theater UP will put its award toward a $10 million cultural arts center on Main Street in Littleton.

A few recipients are putting their funding into clean, efficient energy efforts. Those include $267,000 in renewable energy upgrades at the Colonial Theater in Bethlehem, and Clean Energy NH’s program to help small, rural communities in Sullivan County with clean, energy-efficient building and renovation projects. It received about $219,000.

The Monadnock Economic Development Corporation received $1 million to buy a 12.9 acre vacant lot for the new Keene Technology and Innovation Park, a project the organization expects to create or retain 140 jobs and train 80 to 100 people for careers in advanced manufacturing annually.