Bangor approved giving $77,000 in pandemic relief funding to two local organizations — though city councilors discussed six requests — in the city’s second wave of federal COVID-19 relief awards.
Bangor Area Homeless Shelter requested $10,000 to support the organization’s diversion program, which helps people at risk of homelessness find secure, safe housing. The program began during the pandemic when the shelter had occupancy limits, and has successfully diverted 99 people, according to the organization’s application.
Councilors also granted Eastern Area Agency on Aging $67,000 to support the organization’s nutrition programs for older adults, caregivers and disabled adults for one year. Those programs range from meal delivery to the agency’s “furry food bank” that offers pet food to low-income older adults.
Tuesday’s decisions are the latest step in Bangor’s delayed efforts to allocate the remaining $16 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding the city received from the federal government beginning in May 2021. That money has to be earmarked by 2024 and spent by 2027.
Bangor Area Homeless Shelter also requested another $10,000 to operate the nonprofit’s winter warming center, which keeps people safe from dangerous winter weather from December to March.
Councilors agreed to support the shelter’s program with a Community Development Block Grant, rather than pandemic relief funding, as the city has done for the past two years.
The decisions came the night after the council agreed to allocate $150,000 in pandemic relief funding to hire a grant writer and manager for the city. The city believes a grant writer will help it earn grants to cover municipal expenses, which would reduce the burden on taxpayers, according to council agenda documents.
The federal funding will pay for the position for a year and half. The city hopes the position will become self-sustaining.
Though councilors agreed to designate funding to support the proposals, the council can’t officially approve the award until their next meeting later this month.
The selections were made during the second weekly ARPA workshops the council is holding to consider funding applications. Councilors are reviewing the 25 top-ranked requests as decided by a volunteer review panel overseen by Heart of Maine United Way. Those top applications have been divided by their “area of emphasis,” meaning what issue the proposals seek to combat.
While councilors agreed to fulfill two organizations’ requests for pandemic relief money, the group hesitated to decide on three other applications, two of which exceeded $1 million, without more information.
“I think a seven-figure ask requires more scrutiny and attention,” Councilor Gretchen Schafer said. “It’s not that I don’t support it, I just don’t support it yet.”
Penobscot Community Health Center asked the city for nearly $2.8 million to fund renovating the organization’s Hope House Health & Living Center. The project would expand the shelter’s footprint from 9,187 square feet to 13,319 square feet.
The added space would provide room for kitchen facilities, group meeting space, improve hygiene and personal storage spaces, and increase open concept space to improve the line of sight for staff, among other improvements, application documents said.
The shelter’s 66-bed capacity wouldn’t change with the expansion, but four “flex beds” that provide quarantine space, additional warming center capacity or future recuperative care beds, would be added, according to the application.
Another application councilors opted to wait on was a $1.3 million ask from Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness to develop two cultural centers in Bangor — the Wabanaki Youth and Cultural Center on Central Street and the Community Connection Center for Learning and Lodging on Kenduskeag Avenue.
The proposed youth center would provide “culturally focused and supportive programming for all youth,” according to application documents.
The community connection center would have spaces for group learning, celebrations and events as well as lodging, an outdoor walkway, a kitchen and space for Wabanaki art, cultural activities and ceremonies.
While councilors liked the idea, especially the youth center, they asked for more information on the proposal before making a funding decision.
Finally, the Maine Multicultural Center requested $70,700 to fund a full time program manager for one year who would recruit, train, and manage volunteers and serve as a case manager. That employee and the volunteers they bring aboard would help ensure immigrants secure transitional housing and services that help them settle in the greater Bangor area.
Again, councilors liked the idea, but elected to ask for information on the program’s sustainability plan before deciding on the funding request.
