AUGUSTA, Maine — When data was last collected by Preble Street in 2023, there were more than 200 Maine veterans without a place to call home.
With winter on our doorstep, many of them need help preparing for the colder conditions.
From a warm set of clothes to a connection that might lead to a future home, those resources were on display at the Homeless Veterans Mobile Stand Down event at Mills Park in Augusta on Wednesday.
"I've seen a lot of the people here getting the help that they really need," Gary Otterson said.
Otterson had just gotten his hair cut and had been taking advantage of some of the services offered. As a Vietnam War veteran, he knows the struggle of leaving the military and re-entering society.
"As a veteran, we get stuck in this thought process that we're alone."
That feeling is something fellow veteran, David Patch, also knows all too well. "I didn't know I was eligible for the VA until I turned 70. That was 11 years ago," Patch said.
When he realized so many veterans also lacked the same awareness, Patch wanted to get out there and help. Now he's president of Maine Veterans in Need, an organization that works to connect veterans with government resources.
"It's not hard, but it can be daunting if you haven't used the system or don't know about the system." A lot of Patch's work is done at events like the Homeless Veterans Mobile Stand Down, which is put on by the Maine Bureau of Veterans.
The number of homeless veterans in Maine nearly quadrupled after the pandemic, according to Preble Street data, but has been steadily declining since.
"As always, we're trying to get the number down to zero, but in reality it's a moving target," Ryan Lorrain, director of communications at the Maine Bureau of Veterans, said.
Lorrain said they hold these mobile events four to five times per year every October. According to him, they're very well attended and specifically built in a way that will have a lasting effect.
Before picking up winter supplies, people have to register and walk through the circle of vendors that offer longer term resources.
"It kind of gives you an excuse to have to speak to all the different groups as well," Lorrain said.
They have to leave with something, even if it's just the realization they're not alone.
"Then we come into a situation like this, and all of a sudden you start thinking, 'Well, maybe there is something that can help me,'" Gary Otterson said.
Although these events typically pop up every year in October, veterans can access their benefits year-round. One place to start could be through the Maine Bureau of Veterans Services.