Bangor City Council is considering using city funding to support an emergency warming center that would expand overnight shelter space on the coldest nights throughout the winter.
That would likely cost just over $100,000, with the majority of those funds coming out of the federal Community Development Block Grant program.
The added capacity would provide needed beds after two existing warming centers were denied funding requests by MaineHousing. Without these extra beds, warming center leaders have worried that the city won’t have enough space to bring people inside, which could be life-threatening for homeless community members.
The city’s public health department has proposed allocating funds to the Together Place Peer Run Recovery Center so it can open a warming center on nights when temperatures drop below 15 degrees.
City councilors expressed support for the proposal during a workshop Wednesday evening but are awaiting more information on how that would affect the Community Development Block Grant budget and plan to return for more discussion on the matter at a committee meeting on Monday.
The city stepped in to provide emergency funding for the Brick Church and the Together Place during a similar scramble last year after the Brick Church’s funding request was denied by MaineHousing.
This year, the Together Place was denied state funding to reopen, as was the Mansion Church, although the latter plans to open anyway. MaineHousing awarded funding for 65 warming center beds at the Brick Church and five at the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter. The Brick Church is getting $427,65, far more than in years past, but it can’t shoulder the burden of sheltering everyone living on Bangor’s streets alone.
Between the three overnight warming centers that operated last year, 85 people visited per night on average, according to a memo from Jennifer Gunderman, the city’s public health director, summarizing a partial sample of data from last year. On 20 nights, more than 90 people visited one of the centers, and on 11 nights, more than 100 visited.
The maximum number of people who went to a warming center on a single night was between 120 and 125, Gunderman added during Wednesday’s workshop.
The Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, the Brick Church and the Mansion Church can offer about 95 warming center beds combined, Gunderman said, meaning more beds are needed for the coldest nights.
She estimated there will be between 50 to 60 nights when temperatures in Bangor fall below 15 degrees, which has been the cutoff for Portland’s city-run emergency warming center in years past, although it will be open every night this winter, according to MaineHousing spokesperson Scott Thistle.
That would add up to about $106,000 to open more beds on the coldest nights, according to Gunderman. She suggested allocating $5,000 of the city’s heating assistance funds, about $11,000 in general assistance funds and $90,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to the Together Place.
“I think Director Gunderman has an excellent handle on the situation,” Shea Mullaney, board president of the Together Place, said after the workshop, adding that his organization is prepared to provide 40 warming center beds as soon as the council gives the green light.
That would put the city’s overall capacity at around 135 beds on the coldest nights.
“We are always excited to collaborate with the city on proposals that they put forward,” Mullaney said. He also stressed that the council should consider data reported at a committee meeting last month, showing that the majority of Bangor shelter guests are from the city or surrounding area within Penobscot County, when making its decision.
Data supplied by Bangor shelters from the first half of this year shows that 68% of visitors reported Penobscot County as their last place of residence, and roughly half came from Bangor, according to Kelly Watson, MaineHousing’s Director of Homeless Initiatives.
“It is starting to get cold out there,” Gunderman noted, saying the council’s decision will need to be timely.
The council also plans to move forward with smaller funding allocations to The Well and Manna Ministries, which both provide daytime warming center space, pending review of their financial documents.
Gunderman proposed giving $5,000 in heating assistance money and $10,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to The Well.
Manna also requested $5,000, although it’s unclear if the organization still needs it given private funds the organization has raised since. The city is waiting on clarification, according to City Manager Carollynn Lear.
Councilor Michael Beck suggested that the city itself should apply for warming center funding next year from the state, saying that while he appreciates the work of the independent local warming centers, “this is two years in a row they didn’t have it covered, and then we’re the ones at the table having to scramble.”