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With respect to the recent Bangor Daily News article “Residents want Penobscot County to use federal funds to improve affordable housing,” I would have to agree with the dozen people who participated in the remote meeting. With the county receiving millions under the new American Rescue Plan Act that was passed in March 2021, the county should focus on the helping of the homeless issue.
As someone who has previously lived in Orange County, California, I have seen how the homeless are treated when the county does not want any of them and does not care for them, having them shipped to a nearby county to avoid the homeless issue. According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness government website, as of January 2020 Maine has an estimated 2,097 homeless people, which with the influx of millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act should be enough to squash the homelessness issue.
With the worst of winter coming along, I think the allocation of this fund to homeless shelters will greatly help combat the homelessness issue that while small is not ignorable in the county and state.
Sean Wang
Orono