BANGOR, Maine — "Nobody wants to feel lonely or isolated and that's how our unhoused neighbors feel right now," Jamie Beck, the executive director of the Bangor nonprofit Dignity First, said.
Beck hopes a tiny home village designed for people experiencing homelessness can allow them to keep their community.
"It’s not just the 60 homes, it really is creating the community spaces within the village that people don't have to go out of their community," Beck said.
The city of Bangor has granted Dignity First the right of first refusal to lease the property before another party. The project has not yet been approved but the goal is to create 60 tiny homes in a Community First village model at the current site of the city's largest homeless encampment.
"Trying to rebuild and reforge those strong relationships to rebuild that connection and allow people to stay housed for much longer than just putting it in a system fully in its full capacity to work," Beck said.
The organization plans to collaborate with community partners like Together Place Peer Run Recovery Center to provide resources and support to individuals living in what would be called Homeful Village.
"They're looking at the whole person, it’s one thing to put a roof over someone's head and it another thing to help that person stay housed," Amy Roeder, the executive director of Together Place, said.
Bangor Area Homeless Shelter Executive Director Boyd Kronholm, who is not involved in the project, also sees the importance of having a sense of community and resources.
"Every person that comes to this shelter and stays at the encampment, their stories and their needs are different," Kronholm said.
Leaders in the project are hoping it can help people get back on their feet.
"This is part of the solution to help provide something for those people so that they don't have to be in that situation anymore," Anna Phillips, board president of Dignity First, said.