New Hampshire Housing with Special Guest Ali Sekou

On this episode of Speaking Our Mind Podcast we sit down with Ali Sekou, Assistant Mayor (Mayor Pro Tem) and City Councilor for Concord, New Hampshire, as we tackle one of New Hampshire's most pressing challenges—the housing crisis.

From affordable housing and community development to inclusion and public policy, Ali shares his unique perspective as both a public servant and community leader. We discuss the barriers families face, the impact of housing on health and opportunity, and what it will take to create stronger, more inclusive communities across New Hampshire.

Ali's journey is one of resilience and service. After immigrating to the United States in 2012 with limited English, he earned multiple degrees, became a leader in community development, and now serves in numerous organizations dedicated to improving the lives of residents throughout the state.

Ali, also will speak in his native language addressing his people that live in New Hampshire to seek assistance if needed as he is there to help. 

Transcript

Welcome And Meet The Team

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello.

SPEAKER_03 0:05

Welcome to Speaking Our Minds Podcast. Where health is more than healthcare.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Welcome to Speaking Our Minds Podcast, where health is more than healthcare. This podcast is provided by the City of Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services. I'm your host, Iraida Munoz, and here today with Ali. Ali is Buenos Dias. Good morning.

SPEAKER_04 0:36

How are you? Good. How are you today? Pleasure to be with you all here today.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

I'm so excited that you're here today.

SPEAKER_04 0:42

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Finally, I got you. How was your ride?

SPEAKER_04 0:47

Honor to be here. The ride was great. And thank you guys for your flexibility and for your persistence to make sure that this happened. I enjoyed our previous conversation and I look forward to this one as well.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

So we are friends here. We are friends and we we had so much fun already and we haven't even started. So first of all, so grateful that you're here. And we are here as well with Savitri Horrigan. Hello, Savitri. Hello, Slamatatang. Happy to be here. And Jonathan Gonzalez.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Hello, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Jonathan is our producer for Flow Free and Flow Free and Die.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Or die.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Flow free or die. Or die. And this has been just a success because I can tell that everybody is listening and learning. And this has been so such a blessing for our community and people that can listen to our podcast episodes. We're learning a lot about different subjects. And today we're gonna learn a lot more about the subjects that you are gonna just

Why Housing Shapes Health

SPEAKER_02 1:55

talk about, especially about housing. And I want I want you to tell us a little bit more about your role and how long you have been doing this type of work.

SPEAKER_04 2:06

Excellent. And as I said earlier, thank you. It's a great honor to be with all of you guys, and thank you for the opportunity to do what I love to do, which is really trying to talk about housing. And when we talk about housing, I think housing is a health determinant that touches all levels of human life, right? And this is really what I say. We pride ourselves in partnership and collaboration throughout the state of New Hampshire. My name is Ali Sekou. I work for New Hampshire Housing as the manager of community engagement and outreach. And in my role, I travel throughout the state talking about housing, housing needs. What can we do really to make the housing that we are talking about serve all people? And as you know, our mission at New Hampshire Housing is really we promote, finance, and support housing solutions for the people of New Hampshire, and we try every day to make sure that this is happening. Our team is working every day very hard to make that impact.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

And I I have known Ali Sekov since a few years now, and I'm proud to say that every time that I see Ali, I just feel so happy. My my heart just smiles because same here. I see Ali just doing well, just doing what he needs to be doing, and I just feel so blessed to share spaces every time that he is doing his job. And tell us more about the typical day that how it looks like for you when you get to share spaces with people that are finding the opportunities to serve others.

SPEAKER_04 3:48

This is, I think, one of the questions that I can ask anyone here sitting today because we are all doing that same work in different maybe industries. Uh, you guys are in the healthcare, and I think healthcare and housing are really hand to hand because we cannot be healthy if we don't have housing. So whenever I'm in the space with people that are doing this work, that are really trying to bring awareness and educate the population of at large, especially the underserved communities, my heart is like full of love. And I think the only way we can do it is when we come together and partner and talk about really the issues, the deeper issues that are facing those industries like housing and healthcare, childcare, transportation. The list goes on and on. And most of my meetings are really in that space where I am sitting with experts or people with deep experience and people that deeply care about New Hampshire and New Hampshire people, you can tell when they talk, they talk from the bottom of their hearts, and they really want change and they want good change for all. So whenever I'm in that space, I'm one of the happiest men.

How The Housing System Works

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

I know that we oftentimes we see people struggling, trying to understand how the system, the system of housing works. And I know we had experiences and opportunities to work with some of those folks that don't understand necessarily how the system of housing works. I know that you and I, we serve populations where sometimes they are they are trying to understand how this works. How how do I apply for housing? How do I where do I go? They don't understand the difference in between applying for cash assistance and how do I where do I sign up to get housing? What do I say to those folks? How how do I go for an application? What's the difference in in between New Hampshire housing, CD assistance, and other vouchers? How can we help those folks to understand this?

SPEAKER_04 6:02

Give me some time to really try and to answer this loaded question because myself, I don't think anybody will tell you they understand deeply the issues of housing and how can we what we do understand at New Hampshire housing because we have amazing experts that know what we need to do to make this work. But it's not a one organization work, it's it should be a team effort and a collaboration. That's why earlier I said that New Hampshire Housing, we pride ourselves in collaboration and partnership where whenever we want to do something, we call everybody. Because when it comes to housing, you are like talking about legislations, right? Policies at state and of course municipalities level. You are talking about communities, right? It's just diverse industries and diverse communities. Issue that everybody should look at it that way. And even on a personal level, housing touches you. Either you are trying to retire in your home or you are trying to downsize, or your grandkids, or your parents-in-law, whatever it is, it's just a deeper issue that I think every single person should look into and try to work in collaboration with everybody else that is trying their best to make this work. So I think this is a very loaded question. And when it comes to the voucher program, New Hampshire Housing is a statewide agency, a nonprofit agency that covers the entire state. So if your region doesn't or your city doesn't have a housing authority, then of course New Hampshire housing is there for you. Doesn't mean we are not there for people that have housing authorities. Just means that if you live in Nashua or Manchester or Portsmouth or Laconia or whatever, you can apply Dover to your housing authority, but also New Hampshire housing is here for those communities that don't have a housing authority for them to apply. So I think it's very good for people to know where to go to put their application in, right on our website, or our team is always available to talk to them so they can visit us at New Hampshire Housing. We are located in Bedford, Bedford, New Hampshire. So whichever is easier, we have a team that can walk you through. And we pride ourselves also in languages of the diverse languages that we have so that if people need assistance and help with that. I think New Hampshire Housing does a lot, of course, on top of the voucher program that we need to highlight here. I won't take all my time to talk about it, but New Hampshire Housing has a home ownership program. We have a multi-family housing program where we work with developers to make sure that we develop a good quality, affordable housing in New Hampshire. And of course, the team that I sit on, the EPC team, which is an engagement policy and communication team, that we really look

Where To Apply For Vouchers

SPEAKER_04 9:35

at the data. We are in the community engaging people, trying to really get to understand what issues are facing the communities, what can we do together to get a solution and trying to educate and bring awareness. And of course, our assisted housing team that we were just talking about, which does handle the voucher programs.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Okay. Okay. So let's simplify a little bit of what you have done. Because as a person that knows nothing about what New Hampshire housing does, right, I'm just a single, simple person that don't know anything about New Hampshire housing. I'm just a person that is literally homeless and don't have a place to live right now, right? Because I'm I'm having personal circumstances and don't have a place to live right now. Let's just pretend that that's happening to me. And I I'm so overwhelmed that I just don't understand the system. The system is just there, right? And I just don't know how to access it. And you're saying that I had to fill up an application. And I'm okay, I'm gonna apply. So you're telling me, right? You're you're just trying to say to me that I just need to fill out this application. So filling up this application means I have to go to an office or go to the website, which is what's the website?

SPEAKER_04 11:04

W.newhampshirehousing.org.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

Okay, perfect. So I go to the website and I apply there. And there are certain documents that I need to present, which I assume it's gonna be like proof of identity and certain documents. Hopefully, for some folks that are I assume they have to be you a citizen and and all those stuff. So hopefully people can provide those documents. And once I provide those documents, I just wait X amount of funds, how many years I need to wait.

SPEAKER_04 11:40

So the waiting list is a very long waiting list. And thank you. You said it. Because, as I said, we are just giving a month of voucher that we can serve, and the demand is so high. Yeah, it's like when we talk about housing, right? Why are we having housing shortages today? It's because the demand is high, but the stock is low. It's the same thing. People really are applying, but the vouchers are not for everybody. So the waiting list can be between seven and eight years, and it depends on circumstances on what's needed as well.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

And Savitri, I wanted to highlight that fact, and obviously, this is not Aliceco's fault, it's not anybody's fault. This is our reality, the reality that we are all living here in New Hampshire and in other states as well. It is the reality of having

The Reality Of Long Waitlists

SPEAKER_02 12:35

a long wait list, and the this is the crisis, the housing crisis that we're leaving.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Yeah, I think you all mentioned that it can average eight years sometimes for the Section 8 housing. I remember hearing about that in social work school because one of my professors had been focusing a lot on food insecurity, working with clients. And then she realized that a lot of times people were experiencing food insecurity because they had such high housing costs and fees. And when you, you know, when you look at those like hierarchy of needs, you you you need shelter to stay safe and you know, have a stable environment. And so a lot of times when you are juggling all these different kinds of bills, and maybe you have a family or you're taking care of other people, you know, you have to you have to make decisions about which ones to which bills to prioritize, and sometimes medical bills or food bills, those are the ones that people might have to, you know, not focus on in order to be able to afford their rent and keep a roof over their heads.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Since I remember joining this community back in the early 2012, 13, that since I started working for the the this community, I remember this was the wait list. And it was so shocking for me that people needed to wait for so long that I couldn't believe it.

SPEAKER_04 14:04

But I do encourage people to apply because when we say between seven or eight years, of course it's a long wait, but you never know what can happen, right? So it's always good to encourage people to put their name there.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

So And not only to put their name there, so to be aware that if you switch your phone number, if you change your address to be on top of those changes, because if you if you are changing your phone number, you want to be sure that your your information is current and up to date, because if your turn comes and you get the call, you don't want to miss your turn.

SPEAKER_04 14:41

Very well said. I don't have anything to add on that.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

And I was just curious, Ali, if you could speak about what are the types of supports for people who are have applied and are on that waiting list.

SPEAKER_04 14:52

So the support, as I said earlier,

Staying Eligible While You Wait

SPEAKER_04 14:55

is really our team is out there, and uh whenever you are ready, you can call our Rams at any time, or you can also come at New Hampshire Housing where they will be able to help you. Always, always do not hesitate to contact us.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

There was small, small, very significant that we spoke the other time in radio, and that the other person that was with you.

SPEAKER_04 15:23

That was our CEO, Rob Dapes, was with me last time.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

Thank you. Yeah, your CEO, Rob, um, mentioned and he mentioned about that there were several different other offices that are also in New Hampshire, how many we are we have in New Hampshire?

SPEAKER_04 15:40

You mean housing authorities? Yes. On top of my head, uh, I don't know how many, but there are 22 offices in the state of New Hampshire.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

And he mentioned that they don't communicate to each other. So if someone if someone moves or if someone wants to apply from one office to another, they need to start the process all over again. And I will have to double check that fact. But if that is correct, that person has to apply again and bring all their paperwork and apply. Because if that person wants to get better chances, maybe there's another waitlist into that other community. So it's important that that person needs to understand the process for that other system. So it's important that that person needs to understand how that process

No Single Application Across NH

SPEAKER_02 16:35

works.

SPEAKER_04 16:36

I think Rob was talking about, if I remember, uh if my memory serves me well, a central location where when you applied, your application is in the system on all the housing authorities. So say you apply today, we will see your application at New Hampshire housing. We can see it at Dover Housing or Personal Housing or Manchester Housing or Nashua Housing or Laconia housing. I think that's what Robo's talking about. There's no central location for one application for the state of New Hampshire.

SPEAKER_02 17:10

Oh, you understand.

SPEAKER_04 17:11

Yeah, okay. So people need to be aware about where do they want to really applied and then follow up with the housing authority they applied to because sometimes you might apply in Manchester and thinking that housing authorities you will call New Hampshire housing, but we don't have your application. So it's just very good to have that application, the contact numbers, as you said, and trying to be in touch with people whenever you can.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

And the program that you were talking about, the for landlords, can you talk a little more about how you work with landlords and affordable housing?

SPEAKER_04 17:50

So I was talking about our Malto family housing. We have what we call LITEX program where developers apply through a very competitive tax credit to build affordable housing. And in that process, housing the New Hampshire Housing will select and award some developers that opportunity to build affordable housing based on application and based on all the requirements.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

So if any developer that is listening to this podcast is interested in joining those efforts, how do they uh contact New Hampshire Housing and inquire on this program? What can they do to contact you?

SPEAKER_04 18:33

So they can contact anybody at New Hampshire Housing and then we can put them in touch with the team that works on this. So New Hampshire Housing is out there. We have our teams out there talking about this. So if you know anybody at New Hampshire Housing, you can ask them that question and then they will put direct you to the right people to talk to.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

That sounds great. I will love to learn more about that particular program because I do believe that it's important to build more affordable housing. It is important in New Hampshire, especially. We need more of those. Definitely we do.

SPEAKER_04 19:11

And that's what we try to say and do all the time. I think it's very important for people to know what is available to them

Building Affordable Housing With Tax Credits

SPEAKER_04 19:20

and the resources that are available to them. And that's really one of my roles at New Hampshire Housing: traveling throughout the state and bringing that awareness and sharing those resources that are available to everybody. And I think we all have to start somewhere. So don't ever think that I'm not ready now. Readiness comes with really working with people that had have done it or that has the expertise to support you and guide you until you reach to the point that you are ready to do it.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

Is there anything else that you think I didn't ask you that I should have asked you that you would like to share with our listeners?

SPEAKER_04 20:02

I think we covered a lot today, and anything that the listeners really want to know about New Hampshire housing, as I said, our website is there, and my name is Ali Sekou. I am the manager of community engagement and outreach, and it's a privilege to be here and talk about housing and, of course, our housing needs in the state of New Hampshire.

SPEAKER_02 20:25

Thank you. Thank you so much for being with us today, with me and with Savitri and Jonathan. And I will talk and see and talk to you all next time in our next episode. Thank you so much, Ali, for being with us.

SPEAKER_04 20:39

My pleasure. Thank you all for having me.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

I will see and talk to you all. God bless us.

unknown 20:45

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 20:51

Welcome to Speaking Our Mind Podcast, where health is more than healthcare.

SPEAKER_04 21:03

So midnight in Nashua, New Hampshire, and Nashua see the Nashua Dim in Dokuata may be the tonet or Jordan Otto, and say enkali we the tonet or jordan auto come when you choose the tonet or we a Ali Seku leader agents be a tender New Hampshire housing. New Hampshire Housing do Ajance no Latid on a Gol to a water careful, a Golle and Ondo come when it

Resources, Readiness, And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_04 21:36

drew Tawado a lady New Hampshire food no farm at me when you come in gatata, a pidume, colati seven gari be keba one lead, gamdunia or one lead burineonu de hond. Se andato kepata no andatonjata, andatonga do golle amin do one coming baby harlo de midenjangina himbe, keba pamake se ada i fila, the tonjord or the other. New Hampshire Housing.orgodo. Tiniwana non do Adawa Yo the India m Ali seku, Pami Nami no Mimbalirte, Otawe the Ahebi Farmude. Katamudundu Minkali ko yewata organizacion or care o golle comingata ton wana kuye wata pilota be walle de keba tunjodi mehimbelati benunjidi so dohim belaati benunjitika den warde farma noengata sinojiti nyibude, ngodi no law nun yibira, ayo dung fugole amin nong komingata garamudundu mitendara regi ko wata min pama seni bi himbe hasaba ni wonibengala no kutu jodi, no wata komin kebaba min kebba minbala min keba nabetu benjodi. Ayo, Garamudundu handen aminkali kuye wata gulli did. Maybe ete gulli did the no wata kuim bengara, kaura, ay what umiko hani wata. Gam e pula ku Mbi wakatifuimbe kauri poti, nombawa hebu de solition or kan weni nombawa hebde la no adri kumu gollet. So dung what decam handen o epimito haldad or higrab da tip and ngolana siri nasuwa. La bi didini handem it ora a randemi wari mi hali do koyeuta gollet ngat amihali do themganbi atangal English ngal, and then mid nkala handen do pula kud o. To to pull otawa fusenani dani amin de wala farma. No wawa yude mina. Winda inde amin do yewa noi won komingata epi farminami noi wata komingab amin bala um na no wata kohaba farma komingata atata ton. Gada mudun fa hindan dok yea wata radio show or we attackin uh sani mihala angle gandu hangle in de mako weni speakin our minds podcast. And golemap be golle mo yude beindara be kala himbe kohani wate defu, potye wata n jam bando madar, potye wata tonjodo toda, koye wata kull nyam duhun defukowawi me mude bingel adama en jamumu mudun fudu kobekala ta domu me minkam kobejamika ndun kamen gol let ngata mide domud wen kobe jamika. Yunkem mi wel take sane handen kokemi kaldumi emabe kemi faminde and n njodi be state of new hampshire do. Wan benondara noy wata kukeba t njodi mballega alla turwe kaldemin mballe do kaldum in new hamshire housing. Mid njogi tonhim belati, bet unwoni gole mmap be bembawa walude, netufunjit o wall led the seni awa wa jungude awa wa windude

Multilingual Recap And Sign Off

SPEAKER_04 24:51

na aidana wal led no wata kongat ad ejedi di, adawawa tawdem tom bedford, tonweni to minjodi. A yo seni a farmine numbiru mifa hindawa wa jamu de gotomgo ndu da tunjodi daton, on no wawa waludema famine dumeweni gol ledem ingadata. Myeti on sunne, miwel take handen epi insha alla mingatu and o kaden, halu de do kutye wata golledemgadata. Gansi himbe kali fila to jodete, kali fila chudifu, kali kutye uta himbe hiu bedun wana net ogo to golle mudu dun jama are dadi non golle mudu ngam nong wata kotawede, dun hebebi dum mwjinama, one leden de do net o futo lati no yiti na no wa wana in sha alla tudum happa dumhare, ming kalan ta got no kumingata mingata dun do netufu inde mudun hala taket or sabi alla njot temin, gare inji dengare kaldengare pamre, asalamu alaikum, alau kwenya loma lobum yeti sananu sala.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Bush kelden isvenidos.

SPEAKER_03 25:55

Welcome to speaking our mind podcast, where health is more than health care.