BANGOR, Maine — With warming centers closed for the season, unhoused people living in the Greater Bangor area can now seek shelter at the Heart Equity Alliance Resource and Testing (HEART) center during the day.
The Health Equity Alliance nonprofit opened its HEART center on Monday, which is located at 304 Hancock St., Ste. 3B.
The center now serves as a safe haven where unhoused people can dwell. The non-profit received American Rescue Plan Act money from the City of Bangor to fund the new community center.
The center is open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Recovery coaches and caseworkers from various organizations like, BARN, PCHC, and PATH that connect unhoused people with housing and support resources are available onsite.
The center also offers syringes for people in active use and testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections like hepatitis.
Outreach specialist Abby D'Alessio said with the center doubling as a resource hub, caseworkers can meet unhoused people where they are.
"A lot of times it's having people coming to them so they would have to go to the clinic or they would have to go to the service at a certain center in town," D'Alessio said.
Kole Taylor is a certified drug and alcohol counselor at the new HEART center. He reflected on a time where he too fell victim of drug addiction in the past, remembering what he needed at the time that he battled his own struggles.
"When I was in my active use, I needed to know that I wasn't alone. I needed to know that I wasn't the only person sitting in my basement questioning why I was living," Taylor said. "I needed to feel the support and the love that I didn't get throughout my entire use. I needed to feel like I was a human, that I had purpose, that I had value for me to start believing in myself for me to make the appropriate decisions to turn my life around and be an active person in the community."
Taylor said during his battle against drug addiction, shame and common stigmas weighed heavy on him, which he said often made him shy away from asking for help that he wanted and needed. While recalling the emotions that he felt at the time, he said he can only imagine how loved and seen he would've felt walking into the HEART center's doors.
"Here at the HEART center, we want to support people and let them know that they are loved and that they are cared about because when you have a team rooting for you it's easier for you to start pumping yourself up and get back on the horse again," Taylor said,
The center has five living room-style areas where unhoused people can spend time with each other in a safe environment. There are also computers available for unhoused people to use to connect with friends and family online or to submit online applications for jobs and housing.
D'alessio, who also struggled with addiction in the past, said she believes many unhoused people and those struggling with substance use long for a sense of belonging and a place that helps them remember what it's like to have a place of their own.
"I'm a person in recovery myself, and if I didn't have the community that wrapped their arms around me, I wouldn't be standing here today to give a helping hand to others," D'Alessio said.
The Hope for Homeless nonprofit organization donated several food items to the center for opening day. Ann Sweeney, the co-founder of Hope for Homeless said people struggling with addiction and homelessness need the community to care.
"I know today that a daughter of a friend went to one of these places today for help," Sweeney said. "And I know that family is going to be glad to see that child alive."
Taylor said the center is more than just a place where unhoused people can seek refuge, but it's also a place where they can feel supported, where they can connect with people who want to help, and where they can build a sense of trust and relationship with people who can help them while they fight through tough times in life.
"We have that on our walls, 'Breathe, you're safe here,' right, because we want to make sure that people feel safe supported, and seen," Taylor said. "And that's how trust is built."