Two overnight warming centers in Bangor will get state funding this winter, but the two others that applied were not awarded funds.
The Brick Church will get $427,650 from MaineHousing and the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter will get $10,000, the state agency announced Tuesday afternoon.
The $437,650 total funding for Bangor warming centers is more than any other city, and substantially more than Bangor has gotten in previous years, but the announcement leaves questions about how the city’s network of services could have to be restructured.
The $2.72 million in funding for warming centers statewide is the largest funding amount ever in the five years since the program started, according to MaineHousing.
This year’s awards will support five beds at the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter and 65 at the Brick Church, according to the agency.
The Mansion Church and the Together Place recovery center also applied for state funding, Bangor public health director Jennifer Gunderman reported at a City Council workshop Monday night. It’s unclear if those two shelters will be able to operate without state funding.
Last year, the city’s four warming centers served about 80 to 90 people per night, Bruce Hews, the city’s homeless response coordinator, told the homelessness advisory committee last week.
“If the money comes through, I think that they have a really good setup with the three major warming centers and how they work together, and then Boyd [Kronholm], with what he does with his extra beds in the [Bangor Area Homeless] shelter,” Hews said.
Warming center leaders often note the importance of having multiple warming center options, especially since visitors sometimes get banned from one shelter and must be referred to another one.
MaineHousing awarded $67,000 total to Bangor warming centers last year for 30 beds, split between the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter and the Mansion Church. The previous year, that figure was $130,540 for 93 beds.
The city stepped in to provide emergency funding last year when the Brick Church’s funding request was denied by MaineHousing. That money allowed the Brick Church to continue operating, and it also allowed the Together Place to open an overnight warming center for the first time.