A mainstay organization in Bangor’s recovery community is in turmoil as it loses staff and struggles to find new funding.
The Together Place lost its state grant earlier this year, roughly a $300,000 loss. That funding crunch has reduced the nonprofit’s budget more than 40 percent, according to interim executive director Joseph Hartel.
Rep. Amy Roeder, D-Bangor, was running the organization when it lost the grant. She attributed the contract loss to mistakes she made during the grant application process.
“The fact that we didn’t get that funding was really catastrophic,” she said.
The Together Place Peer Run Recovery Center has not found an alternative funding source and recently eliminated its program coordinator position.
Uncertainty around the future of the center could create challenges for the people it serves in Greater Bangor. Demand for the resources provided by Together Place has increased as local organizations try to fill in the gaps left by the closure of the Health Equity Alliance, an organization supporting homeless people and those with substance use issues.
The Together Place provides peer support for people facing mental health and substance use challenges, as well as a safe place to go during the day at its center, located at 2 Second St. Anyone can become a member or join a support group for free, according to the organization’s website.
When Hartel took over the role in May, he said the organization planned to compensate for the funding loss by applying for opioid settlement money, or funds distributed to the state from lawsuits against companies accused of contributing to the opioid crisis.
Bangor has not yet opened an application for community organizations to apply for portions of those funds.
The organization’s grant writer is working to secure new funding, and the group is “trying to diversify funding streams,” Hartel said Tuesday.
The organization laid off its program director, Jacquie Wilks, in early July with no advance notice “due to significant budget reductions,” according to documents obtained by the Bangor Daily News.
It does not plan to hire someone else to fill that role, according to Rep. Laura Supica, D-Bangor, who formerly served as president of one of the two boards that govern Together Place.
The abrupt elimination of Wilks’ position was a shock for staff and members of the center, according to former administrative assistant Courtney Meade, who resigned a week later.
The center serves a vulnerable population of people, and many members were “very attached to her,” Meade said of Wilks.
Multiple staff members and volunteers walked out of the center on the day of the termination, and others have resigned since, according to Meade.
Wilks’ termination was “strictly a financial decision,” according to Hartel.
“It’s not an easy decision to make, and we’re having to make a lot of tough calls right now” due to lack of funds, he said.
Although the total number of certified peer support staff members has dropped, the remaining three specialists have been able to keep all of the organization’s peer support programming running, according to Hartel.
Certified intentional peer support specialists are trained to assist people in recovery from substance use and mental health issues, according to the Together Place website. The position requires more training than traditional recovery coaches, and people working in the role must be in recovery themselves.
“The staff is all taking on more responsibility, but we’re doing the best we can with the funding that we have right now,” Hartel said.
The organization is working to recruit more volunteers, Hartel said. The nonprofit is also bringing on a part-time volunteer coordinator through a work experience program funded by the Eastern Maine Development Corporation, he added.
The food services provided at the center have been offered less frequently in recent weeks, Hartel confirmed.
Together Place’s 2nd Street Diner previously served low-cost hot meals that could be purchased with EBT cards or cash every weekday, according to the organization’s website.
“Our hope and dreams is that we find some funding and we can provide meals for folks for free,” Hartel said, noting that the organization is currently offering free meals on Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. and hopes to increase to two days a week.
The organization is also looking into potential partnerships with other groups, according to Supica, and may consider shifting its business model in the future.