Kara Anne Rodenhizer, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Home for All Coalition
Kara Anne Rodenhizer, Ph.D. (she/her) is the Executive Director of the Home for All Coalition and Senior Director of Housing Initiatives at Granite United Way. As Director of Home for All, she leads a multi-sector partnership of individuals and organizations working to create lasting and equitable housing solutions across the Seacoast regions of New Hampshire and Maine. In her role at Granite United Way, Kara drives strategic partnerships to advance collaborative solutions that prevent homelessness and expand affordable housing opportunities for low-income and vulnerable households across New Hampshire.
She holds a B.A. from the University of California, Davis, an M.A. in Forensic Psychology from Marymount University, and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of New Hampshire. Kara resides in Portsmouth with her partner, Chris, three children, and corgi Olive. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Portsmouth Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, Vice President of the Women’s Affordable Housing Network, sits on Housing Action New Hampshire’s Governing Council, and the board of the Portsmouth Chamber Collaborative.
Where did you grow up and how did that experience shape you or influence the path you followed in life?
I grew up in West Falmouth, MA before moving to Burbank, CA at the end of 8th grade. Over the course of my life, I’ve moved 19 times—most of those moves happening during my childhood. That number doesn’t even include the half-dozen times my family moved after I left for college.
For me, home was always my grandmother’s house in West Falmouth—a place of comfort and stability. After leaving Cape Cod, however, home became less of a physical place and more of an ideal for which I was constantly searching. Growing up without much stability always made starting over difficult, especially during middle and high school. I tried to make each house, wherever it was, feel like home, but the feeling—like our housing—was fleeting.
It wasn’t until I moved to Portsmouth that I truly experienced what “home” could be—a place of belonging and stability that lasted long enough to put down roots and build a sense of community. I’m deeply grateful to now provide my family with the sense of home I often longed for as a child.
These experiences have profoundly shaped who I am and the path I’ve followed. I know firsthand how vital a stable home and supportive community are, and that understanding drives me every day to ensure others have access to a safe, secure place to call home.
Why do you think affordable housing is important now?
Housing is at the heart of every aspect of life—it shapes where we work, live, raise families, and grow old. Here on the Seacoast, many of the people who are the driving force behind our communities—teachers, healthcare workers, service providers, and so many others—are being priced out of the very places they help sustain.
Too many of us cannot afford to live where we work. Families struggle to raise their children here because the cost of housing is simply out of reach. Longtime residents, now on fixed incomes, face the heartbreaking reality of having to leave the neighborhoods they’ve called home for decades—not because they want to, but because they can no longer afford to stay. Meanwhile, young adults hoping to return home after college find that living here is simply unattainable.
These challenges demand bold, collaborative solutions.
We can’t wait any longer to build the housing our neighbors and communities so desperately need. Now is the time for every resident, every city, every town, and every community to step up, believe in, and invest in solutions that match the scale of the challenge.