Cross Roads House Director
Will Arvelo
‘My jobs have been about service to people and communities while at the same time building and strengthening organizations,’ says Will Arvelo, former director of the state Division of Economic Development, who now heads Cross Roads House in Portsmouth, the second-largest homeless shelter in the state. (Courtesy photo)
Will Arvelo has left a unique imprint during his time in New Hampshire. Arvelo, the son of Puerto Rican farmers, lived in New York and Boston before moving to the state in 2007 to become president of Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth. In 2017, he was picked by Gov. Chris Sununu to lead the state Division of Economic Development.
In September, he was hired to be executive director of Cross Roads House in Portsmouth, the state’s second-largest homeless organization and shelter. According to Cross Roads House, despite the ongoing affordable housing crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, it remained open 24/7, and helped 135 people move from homelessness to stable housing in 2020.
“My jobs have been about service to people and communities, while at the same time building and strengthening organizations,” Arvelo told NH Business Review. “I love this state and see myself being here and continuing to contribute in as many ways as possible.”
Q. How would you describe your career path?
A. It is a crossroads of sorts, where education, business development, workforce development, community development, housing, collaboration and partnership all come together. These are all that I am interested in, and I wanted to learn and engage on these topics across the state.
Most of my years have been spent in public education, particularly at the community college level. I do believe that a good education can make the difference in a person’s life, though I would qualify that by also saying that competency-based learning and the trades are also excellent pathways to a good and rewarding life.
Being an education leader in New Hampshire led me to build relationships with businesses. This was one of my biggest accomplishments while at Great Bay Community College, and it led me to make the connection between education and economic development. I had many accomplishments that I was proud of, from the building of the facility at the Pease Tradeport and the campus in Rochester, to growing enrollment and programs and building a fundraising program.
Q. Then you turned to economic development.
A. Economic development was an easy next step for me. In my role as director of the Division of Economic Development, I was able to continue to expand on my engagement with education, workforce and business relations. One thing you learn quickly is that to do this work, you cannot do it in a silo. There are many partnering organizations at the local, state and federal levels. My mantra was always, “How can we partner and collaborate for a better outcome?”
Q. What was behind your decision to lead Cross Roads House at this time?
A. My jobs have been about service to people and communities while at the same time building and strengthening organizations. When you think about it that way, it makes no difference whether we are talking about education, economic development or eradicating homelessness. I care about these issues equally because they help to improve people’s lives and community outcomes. The Cross Roads House mission spoke to me because of my involvement in prior discussions related to the issue of the shortage of housing in the state.
Q. How critical is the housing situation in relation to homelessness?
A. Obviously, this is a much more urgent issue that needs coordinated solutions, and there are many wonderful people and organizations, including the state, that are engaged in solutions-driven conversations.
I tend to have an economic development approach to all of this. If we build capacity and have stability in our housing, we can house our homeless. In turn, that lessens the strain on resources and stabilizes the population so that many can return to normal lives and continue to contribute to our communities.
One thing I would add is that you just don’t put people in housing. You need to provide the support services that allow them to stay in housing, so they don’t end up homeless again. This is critical to success.
Q. What have you learned about Cross Roads House and what makes it stand out?
A. Of course, I knew about Cross Roads House, but I was not aware of the many great things it does and accomplishes for its residents and for the Seacoast communities. On any given night, we house 80 to 100 individuals and families. Covid-19 has placed limits on how many people we can house, but we are typically at full capacity. We are a low-barrier shelter, which means that we accept most people. We are also one of the few shelters in the state that can service families.
