The warming shelter operated seasonally by Homeless Services of Aroostook is getting $112,000 from MaineHousing but, at 25% less funding than last year, that may not be enough.
The Augusta-based housing agency awarded $2.72 million in grants yesterday to 12 of Maine’s warming sites, including half of those in Bangor.
The news comes as cooler temperatures foretell the winter to come, which make housing and heating greater challenges for Maine’s most vulnerable. It’s the most MaineHousing has offered in its five years of warming center grants, and means 474 beds will be available each night throughout Maine.
Presque Isle — the only warming shelter north of Bangor — offers space for 15 people from November through April. Homeless Services of Aroostook Executive Director Kari Bradstreet is glad for the help, but it’s also the lowest such grant the shelter has gotten and will mean cutting other costs.
“Funding wise, it’s the lowest amount we’ve received. Last year, we got $148,500,” Bradstreet said Wednesday. “We’re looking at a $36,000 deficit for a service we spent $148,500 on last year, so there are concerns. We’ll be looking at ways to cut.”
The organization once allowed people to stay in the dining room of its Sister Mary O’Donnell Homeless Shelter during cold weather. Two years ago, after purchasing a nearby building, it opened a separate warming shelter.
Beds are offered on a first-come, first-served basis from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Participants can have a warm meal, coffee, a shower and a cot, and staff will do their laundry if needed, Bradstreet said. In the mornings breakfast and snacks are available.
The space is a no-barrier shelter. The only requirement is safe behavior, which Bradstreet defined as being nonviolent and able to function safely with other people.
The shelter doesn’t just serve the unhoused, but anyone in Aroostook County who needs a warm space. Bradstreet thinks the rising cost of utilities and home heating oil will spur more to seek its warmth.
“We helped a woman last year who didn’t have any firewood. She stayed with us for a few weeks and we were able to get her some firewood through [a program], and she was able to return back to her home,” Bradstreet said. “I think we’re going to see more of those situations this year.”
Home heating oil prices hit a record high last week owing to the war with Iran, going over $6 a gallon, Maine Public reported earlier this week.
Shelters can use the funding for staffing, supplies, transportation, extended hours and other operating costs.
The funding comes from the state’s Emergency Housing Relief Fund, appropriated by the Legislature as part of the state’s two-year budget and directed to MaineHousing to help the unhoused or those in need of warming spaces, MaineHousing Communications Director Scott Thistle said.
Six shelters received an amount equivalent to $7,515 per bed while others received less. That’s normal because it’s a competitive grant and applicants ask for what they think they’ll need, Thistle said.
“Grants are done on a competitive process, so they’re not all the same,” he said. “We understand that the need is great throughout the state of Maine. Our role is really to try to be fair and equitable and try to distribute these funds in a way that will help the most people as possible.”
MaineHousing issues a request for proposals each year and chooses applicants based on where funds will help the most, he said. There’s always more demand than there is funding available, which is a standing challenge.
The 12 Maine shelters receiving grant funding also include: Alter L/A, Lewiston; Augusta Overnight; Bangor Area Homeless Shelter; Brick Church, Bangor; Healthy Acadia, Ellsworth; HOME Inc., Orland; Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter, Waterville; Seeds of Hope, Biddeford; Seeds of Hope, Portland; State Street Church, Portland; and Tedford Housing, Brunswick.
As Homeless Services of Aroostook works to cut costs, it also depends on community donations, Bradstreet said. Besides financial contributions, community members, churches and organizations have often prepared meals for warming shelter participants.
For information on how to help, contact Homeless Services at 207-764-4125 or visit them on the web or on Facebook.
For participants who want the help, staff will work with them on referrals to the homeless shelter or other services, Bradstreet said. But the first goal is to get people under a warm roof.
“Warming doesn’t require them to engage in services,” Bradstreet said. “It’s really just to keep people safe and alive.”