The Bangor City Council approved $7,000 in funding for the Together Place Peer Run Recovery Center Monday night.
The city’s contribution is the final piece in a fundraising drive that drummed up more than $220,000 for the organization, which closed its drop-in center and meals program for nearly two months due to a funding shortage. It reopened those programs last week, restoring a key resource for community members struggling with mental illness and addiction.
Monday night’s decision finalized a vote from the council’s Government Operations Committee earlier this month in favor of making the funding allocation.
The decision put the Together Place over the finish line for their fundraising goal after the Penobscot County Commissioners decided to give $7,000 to the center on the condition that Bangor matched those funds. The $7,000 from Bangor is coming out of the city’s opioid settlement funds.
The center at 2 Second St. is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and provides a slate of recovery support groups and one-on-one peer support. Its leaders also plan to restart the center’s low-cost meals program soon, now that all the necessary funding is secured.
People who visit the center have described it as “more like a family,” and it’s not uncommon for members to visit every day for peer support groups and other resources.
The group is “incredibly excited to get back to work,” Shea Mullaney, its board president, said following the committee vote. “The way that everybody in the community has stepped up is tremendous. Private donors, foundations, churches, different organizations, Penobscot County, the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, and now the city of Bangor.”
The Together Place initially asked the city for more than $60,000 but ended up raising most of the money it needed through private donations, including a $50,000 gift from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.
City Councilor Carolyn Fish noted that change, as well as a desire to support recovery-based organizations and the steps Together Place leaders have taken toward better financial responsibility, in explaining her vote in support of the funding.
“They have taken some accountability. They have hired a financial advisor,” Fish said. “Because of the efforts that they’ve made and the need in our community, I will be voting in favor of this.”
The council voted 6-1 to give Together Place the funding.
Councilor Wayne Mallar was the only vote in opposition, saying he thinks external organizations should bring funding requests to the council at the beginning of the city’s budget process. He also voted “no” in committee, saying he took issue with the county asking the city to support a matching grant.
One community member, Hilari Simmons, spoke against the funding allocation at Monday’s meeting, saying she did not think an organization should be given opioid settlement money outside of the established process the city previously used to divvy up that funding. Simmons is Mallar’s daughter.
Council Chair Susan Hawes was absent Monday, and Councilor Michael Beck recused himself due to a conflict of interest.