City officials have spent a lot of time in the last few months talking about how to address homelessness in Bangor, spurred in part by the closure of an encampment near the railroad by the Penobscot River.
The issue has plagued the city for years as leaders have struggled to establish a long-term strategy to address homelessness, which has been compounded by the opioid epidemic and a housing shortage. City Council named coming up with such a strategy as a top priority for 2026.
Often absent from these discussions are people who are living on the streets or in Bangor’s homeless shelters.
The Bangor Daily News spoke with more than a dozen homeless community members last week about how they would solve the issue. Here are eight of their ideas.
Support during the housing transition
Numerous people told the BDN that more support for people who are moving into housing after being homeless would be a huge help.
“A lot of times what the city will do when they finally do give out a voucher is, ‘okay, well, here’s your apartment, here’s your keys, good luck.’ And they don’t seem to realize that what got them homeless in the first place is still coming with them,” said Matt Sanders. “They need continued support after that to make sure they don’t lose their housing.”
Sanders, 39, said he struggled after getting into an apartment last spring. He lived there for a few months but ran into some issues using general assistance funding and eventually had to leave, he said. Now he stays at the Mansion Church warming center overnight and volunteers doing the laundry at The Well warming center during the day.
“It seems like about every year around this time, the city suddenly starts rolling out all of these great plans that never go anywhere. So, I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said of the city’s plan to start a new homelessness and housing committee.
More landlords accepting vouchers
Alex Emery, who used to live in a tent in the railroad encampment before it was cleared last month, said that “a little bit more help” for people who have gotten housing vouchers would go a long way.
Many landlords don’t accept housing vouchers, meaning it can be difficult to find a place to live even after securing a voucher — a position Emery is in right now.
He said more education and outreach informing people about who to call for help with housing and other services, and an easily accessible list of landlords who accept vouchers, might help people like him.
Dormitory-style housing
“We have so many places around here that are empty, and I know it would take money, but still, you have places in this town that they could build like a dormitory-style type thing,” Robert Cote said Friday afternoon while holding a sign at the intersection of Washington Street and Oak Street.
Dormitories would be a good temporary housing solution, he said, especially in the winter.
Cote, 48, has been homeless on and off for about five years and stays at the Together Place warming center overnight.
He added that housing solutions need to include other programs, “because a lot of people don’t have a clue on cleanliness, how to manage money, make sure things are done the way they’re supposed to be. That’s why they’re on the street.”
Minivans
Matthew Mendroza suggested that the city give homeless people minivans that they could live in and use as transportation.
“And then they’ll disperse,” he said, with a laugh.
Mendroza said if he had a car, he would return to Missouri, where he’s from and he still has family. He moved to the Bangor area with his mom about eight years ago and has been homeless since getting kicked out of the house, he said.
A sanctioned encampment
Members of Bangor’s homeless community offered varying visions for a central gathering place where the city could allow people to camp outside.
“The sanctioned encampment is what we needed,” Gabby Drew said outside The Well warming center Wednesday. When she lived in the railroad encampment, “It gave me a sense of security,” she said, to have “a place where I can go every night and not have to worry about, well, am I going to get a bed? Am I going to get my stuff stolen?”
After that camp was shut down, Drew set up her tent in a new spot, but it got broken into soon after, she said. She’s been staying at the Together Place since then.
Drew said she thinks the old encampment site behind the Hope House homeless shelter, known as Tent City or Camp Hope, could work if the city decided to let people camp in a particular location.
“If we could have a place where we can govern our own, it would work,” she said, adding that the city should provide necessities like tents and bathrooms.
“Everybody gets the same of everything,” she said, “so, that way there’s no stealing, no jealousy.”
Michael Hasenbank, who is from Millinocket originally and has been homeless for about 10 years, agreed that the city needs to let people camp somewhere.
“Fence it in, I don’t care. And have some rules,” he said. “You can’t keep pushing them because they’re going to bounce to another place.”
Hasenbank said the city should set rules for the space and the people staying there would have a responsibility to keep it clean and pick up trash.
Better use of abandoned spaces
Hasenbank and Drew both mentioned empty spaces in the city that could be better used for housing or a sanctioned encampment space.
Hasenbank suggested the old YMCA site next to the Penobscot County Jail, and Drew pointed to some empty buildings downtown that could be repurposed.
“Another homeless shelter would be good,” she said, noting that the Hope House, Bangor’s only low-barrier shelter, is consistently full.
More jobs
According to Jimmy McGee, the thing he most needs to escape homelessness is a job.
McGee, 44, used to work as a cashier but has been homeless for about three months after losing his job. Now he stays in the Brick Church warming center overnight.
He said he’s applied for about 90 different jobs but hasn’t found one yet that will hire him — an effort that takes up a lot of time and “starts to become a job” itself.
“I’m starting to get good at not getting hired. I know what they’re going to say and how they’re not going to hire me,” he joked.
Hotel rooms for homeless people
Kerry Robinson named hotels as a potential solution to Bangor’s insufficient shelter space.
“We have plenty of hotel rooms. We crammed them full during Covid. Why is that not an option?” she said Wednesday at The Well.
Robinson, who has been homeless on and off since 2019, said the city needs a better system to work with the people who are most difficult to house, which would include stronger mental health care.
“We need people that can look at these people as, that’s a life and has potential, instead of just writing them off,” she said.
BDN photographer Linda Coan O’Kresik contributed to this report.