BANGOR, Maine — "We have the options to be able to support people in their pathways to coming inside and that's what we're going to continue to do," Bangor Homeless Outreach Manager Jena Jones said.
For the past few months, the City of Bangor has been working to clear the homeless encampment near Texas Avenue and Cleveland Street by the end of the year, but now city officials say they're moving that closure date back to the end of February.
"If we were inflexible in that date, we would have jeopardized so much of that incredible work and really hurt relationships that are being formed and fostered," Jones explained.
According to Jones, the city has housed 23 people living at the encampment, but with the recent delay of Penquis' 41-unit affordable housing project that won't be ready for tenants until mid-January, she says the city wants to make sure they have a place for all remaining 55 individuals at the camp to go.
"The opening of this 41-bed facility will help create movement in the pipeline that we're currently unable to achieve," Jones said. "This will create openings in spaces for folks to transition in."
A key reason for the city's continued efforts to close "Camp Hope" is safety, with the city citing dropping temperatures and multiple incidents involving Bangor police over the years.
"There was basically open-market drug dealing. There were groups that came in because there's a market, and we had some pretty severe assaults," Sgt. Jason McAmbley said.
Director of Penobscot County Cares, a nonprofit dedicated to provided resources for unhoused people, Doug Dunbar has long advocated for a delay. While he's happy with the city's decision, he says there's a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure the closure doesn't hurt more people at the encampment than it helps.
"We frankly need several more places where people can not only live but receive supportive services," Dunbar said.
For residents like Syd, who has lived at the encampment for over four years, the hope is that everyone will eventually find safe, permanent housing.
"By whatever date they choose to close this place, whether it be February or April, I hope that everyone has a roof over their head that's their own," Syd shared.