Letter: Concord’s priorities in need of realignment

According to a Jan. 20 article in the Monitor, the City of Concord reported a $1.4 million budget surplus this year. The city is also sitting on a surplus of $15 million. These funds are saved in reserve accounts for unplanned expenses, to fund special projects and to provide taxpayer relief.

While the savings are commendable for those in charge of our city, this news contrasted starkly with the following headline: “As negative temperatures continue, people experiencing homelessness continue to bear brutal cold.” Rather than taking direct action, the city has passed the buck to thinly stretched nonprofits as temporary warming shelters. The Friendly Kitchen and Community Action Program of Belknap-Merrimack Counties are opening their doors for three days. The Concord Coalition to End Homelessness operates a low-barrier nighttime shelter for the winter operating from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., but it only has 40 beds. What happens when they reach capacity? What happens to those who have to be turned away for whatever reason?

Facebook communities like Concord Kind and Homeless in Concord rally to provide our unhoused neighbors with whatever generous participants can cobble together, but above all else what these vulnerable people need is shelter. How long is the city going to continue enabling human suffering during the harshest months of the year when it has the financial ability to address or even solve this crisis?

Aislinn Kalob

Concord