Avesta Housing Resident Service Coordinator Jen Stilwell, left, with Sheena, a new resident at River Turn in Conway, N.H.

CONWAY, NH — Sheena is trying hard not to cry.

She clutches a tissue, rolled up into a ball, in her left hand. With her right, she holds the hand of Resident Service Coordinator Jen Stilwell for emotional support. Her body is trembling as she revisits the events that led her here, to River Turn Apartments.

“I didn’t have anywhere to go,” she says. “I literally didn’t have any options. I was so scared – I thought I was going to be homeless.”

Finally, she can no longer hold back. She allows the tears to flow.

“I am so grateful to be here,” she says.

Late last year, Sheena and four other residents were frantically trying to find affordable homes before their leases expired at Chocorua Woods, a low-income apartment complex in nearby Tamworth. The nonprofit association that ran the complex had dissolved, and the property was being sold. If they weren’t out by midnight on New Year’s Eve, they would be evicted.

Although the tenants had been told earlier in the year that they would have to move, several of them did not receive portable Section 8 vouchers until early December due to a federal government shutdown. And many landlords refused to rent to Section 8 tenants.

“I had been looking for a new place to live for four years, but I couldn’t find anyplace that was affordable,” says Darian, a retired New Hampshire native. “Either nothing was available, or the waiting list was three miles long.”

An article in the Conway Daily Sun about the residents’ plight caught the attention of River Turn’s property manager, Lisa Eastwood, who relayed the information to Regional Property Manager Ashley Reitan and Leasing Specialist Bryanna Barry. They began working with New Hampshire Housing to relocate the tenants to River Turn, one of Avesta’s affordable housing communities in eastern New Hampshire.

“It seemed serendipitous that we had five vacancies at River Turn,” Lisa said. “Up until that time, it had been completely full except for one market-rate apartment.”

New Hampshire Housing agreed to pay the security deposits for all five residents, and they moved into their new homes at River Turn over a three-day period in late December – just before they were about to be evicted.

Their shared experience, while traumatic, has also created a tight bond. Sheena helps some of the older residents clear the snow off their cars after a storm and has provided rides to doctors’ appointments and the grocery store. Darian, a former landscaper, is eager to begin growing vegetables in the property’s raised-bed garden area and share them with his fellow residents.

“This experience exemplifies Avesta’s core values of humanity, stewardship, relationships, and quality in that our staff worked diligently to help problem-solve this housing dilemma with other local agencies when the need for housing became so apparent,” Lisa says. “Through effective collaboration, responsible management, and caring about others, five tenants were able to move into their new homes, keeping their families, work, providers and community ties close by.”

“We are proud to have collaborated with our partners at Avesta to house displaced residents from the closing of the Chocorua property by finding them affordable housing units at River Turn apartments in Conway,” says Brendan Goodwin, managing director of New Hampshire Housing’s Assisted Housing Division. “New Hampshire Housing’s history with Avesta and the River Turn property began in 2022 with the awarding of construction financing and Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and now, using tenant protection vouchers, we’re grateful for River Turn’s property management for their assistance in housing these displaced residents.

“It’s a full-circle moment showcasing our shared commitment to helping those in need.”