Leaders of Maine’s homeless shelters again pleaded with state lawmakers to approve more funding for them as one in Bangor faces a potential closure due to long-term deficits.
Representatives from low-barrier homeless shelters across the state testified Tuesday before the Maine Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Housing, advocating for two proposed bills that aim to provide more funding for Maine’s homeless shelters.
One bill would direct the state Department of Health and Human Services to increase its overnight bed rate of reimbursement for Maine’s five low-barrier shelters. This would assist Hope House in Bangor, owned and operated by Penobscot Community Health Care, which is the city’s only low-barrier shelter and is in jeopardy of closing due to years of financial losses.
Low-barrier shelters accept guests regardless of their sobriety, mental illness or history of criminal convictions, including registration on the sex offender registry. They also don’t require background checks, credit checks, income verification, previous program participation or proof of identification for people to access resources.
With 64 beds, all of which are full on a typical night, the Hope Hope is Maine’s second-largest shelter and the only low-barrier shelter north of Waterville.
Penobscot Community Health Care President and CEO Lori Dwyer announced in November 2023 that the health care agency is seeking a new owner to assume operations of the Hope House, as it can’t afford to keep it afloat.
If the organization can’t find a new owner for the Hope House by October, the shelter will close, leaving the more than 60 people who rely on the shelter and its services with nowhere to go. Those people could look to other shelters in the state — all of which are at-capacity and financially struggling — or move to encampments that outreach workers are striving to shrink.
“The cumulative impact of years of flat funding has led to this point,” Dwyer wrote in her testimony Tuesday. “Though Hope House is a high-functioning, professional shelter with a long history of innovation and commitment to the community, without a designated, ongoing revenue stream, we simply cannot do it anymore.”
A new owner for the shelter hadn’t been found as of Tuesday.
Last year, the shelter portion of the Hope House faced a financial deficit of more than $600,000, according to Dwyer. This year, the shelter is projected to lose more than $800,000.
If the Hope House is forced to close, Dr. Katie White, CEO of Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter & Services, Waterville’s low-barrier shelter, said she’s sure she will see people from Bangor looking for help. Others will likely trickle down to Portland’s three low-barrier shelters only to find they’re full.
“Most low-barrier shelters are running at or close to capacity and have no way to absorb the fallout from Hope House closing,” said Joe McNally, Director of Homeless Services for Milestone Recovery. “Hope House is important not just to the area they serve but to the state.”
Milestone Recovery in Portland offers a 36-bed low-barrier shelter specifically for intoxicated men.
Though Hope House faces the most immediate threat of closure, Maine’s other shelters are also facing financial hardship.
“If we don’t find additional sources of revenue, we also will not have enough money to make payroll by this June,” White said.
In Portland, Preble Street’s two low-barrier shelters — Elena’s Way and Florence House — face a budget shortfall of more than $2 million, Preble Street Executive Director Mark Swann told the Housing Committee last month.
Elena’s Way and Florence House each have 40 beds that are usually full each night, according to Danielle Smaha, Preble Street’s communications director.
Because of the minimal requirements to stay in low-barrier shelters, the organizations serve Maine’s most vulnerable population, many of whom are grappling with substance use disorders, mental health disorders and chronic homelessness, among other challenges.
Guests’ elevated needs also means low-barrier shelters need more funding to operate, as they require more staff and intensive programming.
Aside from a safe place to sleep at night, shelters are where many people gain access to health care, case management and substance use recovery resources, Allie Lovejoy, vice president of mission advancement at Preble Street, told the housing committee.
“The consequences to the Maine economy will be significant, but it should be noted that the individual consequences, especially health outcomes, become severe and deadly,” White said.
