MAINE, USA — Maine is getting federal money to help house the homeless. $16 million will be coming to Maine through this new initiative, all part of the American Rescue Plan.
The money will be used to build 500 new affordable housing units. Maine State Housing Authority will also get 180 emergency housing vouchers to help more people find a safe and stable home. The vouchers will be usable through 2030.
Right now in Bangor, more than 150 people are homeless, the highest number according to Bangor public health officials.
Rindy Fogler is Bangor's Assistant Public Director of Public Health for the city of Bangor.
"It's not just a Bangor problem, it's a regional problem, I mean right now because again we are the service center, we are bearing the burden of this problem, but it really belongs to all of us because many of these people are not from Bangor, they are from communities outside of Bangor and we really need to find a regional approach to homelessness," Fogler said.
"I found some heroin needles right by the street in the grass by our front yard, and also some in the street walking with my 3-year-old," said concerned Bangor citizen, Marlene Brochu.
Brochu recently moved to Maine and is calling Bangor home. She said she is determined to do something to help tackle the homelessness situation in the city. One of the reasons why she decided to run for a city council seat.
"Really just take action and find a solution, and not just keeping talking about it," said Brochu.
Homeless encampment tents can easily be found in Bangor, Fogler says she pleads to people who call her not to come to Bangor thinking there are shelter beds available because there are not.
"People who come here thinking they are going to find shelter, are finding shelters that are full number one, and they are finding no apartments available, and that's leaving folks outside," said Fogler. "I think it's due in large part to the fact that there's a real lack of affordable housing in Bangor. Last I knew the vacancy rate in Bangor was under 1%."
She said right now there are about 150 people facing homelessness just in Bangor. The highest number she's ever seen.
"We know it to be fact that many of these people are not only not from Bangor, but a fair amount of them are from out of state," said Sgt. Wade Betters from the Bangor Police Department.
The millions of dollars coming through the new House America initiative could help flatten the homelessness curve in Maine.
"We've set goals of utilizing these new federal resources to re-house about 1,000 people in Maine who are experiencing homelessness or will soon and also to add about 500 new housing units into our pipeline," said Greg Payne, senior housing advisor for Governor Mills' office. "Money that will be available and deployed sometime next year, and it will probably take some months after that before the housing is actually built."
Payne says the Maine jobs in recovery plan includes new funding for navigators, to help people find housing units and strengthen landlord relations once people are housed.
"There is also an ongoing effort in Maine to support our zoning and land use issues because it is so difficult to site the housing that we need even when we can finance it," said Payne. "
"If everybody took care of the people in need in their own communities, then service center cities like Portland and Bangor wouldn't be overwhelmed as we are getting closer and closer to be every day," said Sgt. Betters.