MANCHESTER - After 20 years of helping people find affordable housing, NeighborWorks of Southern New Hampshire hopes it has found a home of its own.

The nonprofit organization is still settling in to its new headquarters at 801 Elm St., where NeighborWorks started moving in Jan. 2.

"Hopefully, we now have a permanent home," executive director Robert Tourigny said Wednesday.

This is the seventh time the agency has moved since it was incorporated in 1992, Tourigny said.

The move is part of an expansion for the agency, which was NeighborWorks of Greater Manchester until it expanded operations in Nashua and surrounding communities last fall and changed its name.

The new offices are on the second floor of the building where RentACenter was located before it moved to a shopping center on Valley Street. NeighborWorks remodeled the second floor into offices, meeting rooms and classrooms where staff can conduct workshops and seminars.

"The space gives our clients privacy and creates the environment for us to do the seminars and the workshops under one roof," Torigny said.

Tourigny said NeighborWorks hopes to find a business to lease the retail space below, which is about 8,200 square feet. The property is slightly north of the intersection of Elm and Merrimack streets.

"It's a good opportunity because there's not a lot of large, vacant storefronts in such a visible location," Tourigny said.

NeighborWorks provides free advice and assistance to people who want to buy a home but are unfamiliar with the process and what they can afford.

The agency also works to provide affordable housing and has accumulated about 350 rental units over the years. It has expanded beyond Manchester into properties in Goffstown, Hooksett, Amherst and Nashua.

dalden@unionleader.com