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Bangor holds first clean up event at the city's largest homeless encampment

The city's trash clean up events will give Bangor leaders an opportunity to connect people living in the encampments to services ahead of winter weather.

BANGOR, Maine — The city of Bangor held its first encampment trash removal event Wednesday morning at the city's largest encampment behind the Hope House Shelter. 

City workers loaded dump trucks full of items and rubbish people living in the encampment no longer wanted.

It's one of the first steps in a statewide initiative guided by Built For Zero to help Maine cities reduce their unhoused population.

In the upcoming months, the city will try to initiate a program called the Landlord Liaison Program. The program would connect housing providers in the area who are willing to assign shelter to people without housing for the winter.

"There's another program [Landlord Liaison Program] that we're trying to get off the ground that would actually provide security deposits and a little bit of leeway that might incentivize landlords to actually take folks that may otherwise be viewed as a risk," Assistant City Manager Courtney O'Donnell said.

Built for Zero has created nine service hubs throughout the state to restructure services for people experiencing homelessness.

In Bangor, there are roughly 170 to 225 people who are unhoused living in 11 encampments throughout the city. 

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