BANGOR, Maine — After months of discussions, a Portland nonprofit plans to take over Bangor’s only low-barrier homeless shelter to save it from closing.
Preble Street, which operates shelters in southern Maine, is moving forward with a deal to take over operations of Penobscot Community Health Care’s Hope House (PCHC) in Bangor by Feb. 1.
This announcement comes a month before PCHC said it would have to close the Hope House if it couldn’t secure a new owner because of financial shortfalls.
Preble Street said it would have enough funds to take over operations of the Hope House soon.
"It’s the second largest shelter in the third largest city in the state and we're in a homeless crisis, so of course we said yes, we'll try, let's work on this together and see if there's a way to keep it open," Mark Swann, Preble Street’s executive director said.
Dozens of people rely on the Hope House for shelter each night. If it were to close, many of those people would have nowhere to go.
It’s the only shelter in the area that doesn’t require a background check or sobriety.
"Keeping it open, I think, is strategically really important, as well as just meeting the need," Swann said.
The Maine Legislature is providing $500,000 annually to the Hope House over the next three years, helping to make this transfer possible.
PCHC President Lori Dwyer said at a Bangor City Council meeting that she’s excited about the transition.
"It's just a win-win situation for the community and for the populations we're serving," she said.
Community organizations that work with unhoused people, like Bangor’s Health Equity Alliance (HEAL), recognize the impact resources for these communities have.
"By housing the right folks at the right time, we can increase the flow through our homeless response system, we can increase the number of times a bed turns over, we can increase the number of people who exit safely to permanent housing," Josh D’Alessio, HEAL executive director said.
Swann said his organization is still working to raise another $100,000 to fund the Hope House’s operations.
"I have optimism," Swann said. "If I thought this was going to fall off a cliff in three years, we wouldn't be doing it, we're in it for the long run."
Preble Street and PCHC are still working on a contract with the Department of Health and Human Services.
Swann said he is expecting the deal to be finalized in the next few weeks.
PCHC will continue running the Hope House until the transition is finalized.