PORTLAND, Maine — Wednesday was the longest day of the year.
That means unhoused Mainers spent the most time out in the sun while hotter temperatures loom in the weeks ahead.
Each year on the summer solstice, advocates and allies meet in Portland to support each other and call on elected leaders to take actionable steps to improve housing for all citizens.
A small crowd filled Tommy’s Park in the historic Old Port district. While hordes of tourists passed on nearby sidewalks, some stopped to listen to speakers or to read posters put out by the advocates.
The charge was led by the group Homeless Voices for Justice. Cheryl Harkins works with the organization and said she believes compassionate action is possible and needed.
"It's the longest day of homelessness, so, we need to bring to the attention of everybody that nobody asks to be homeless," Harkins said. "It's a very scary situation and there are solutions to it. We're just trying to work them all out so everybody has what they need."
Amid a housing stock crisis and high rent, permanent shelter was the most talked about issue, and the most elusive to solve at each level of government.
Portland City Council Victoria Pelletier has been a staunch advocate for unhoused rights and a detractor of city policies she felt were harmful to those vulnerable in her city.
"When we do encampment sweeps with no plans for immediate shelter, we are traumatizing people, and we need to do better than this," the first-term councilor said. She was the only elected member of any level of government who made themselves known at the event.