LEWISTON, Maine — Construction started Monday on an 82-unit housing project in Lewiston. Half of the units will be new homes for low-income renters who currently live in housing that is deemed unsafe, according to Lewiston city leaders.
The other half of the units will be on an application basis, according to city staff.
The housing project, named Wedgewood after the Wedgewood House on the corner of Pierce and Pine Streets, will consist of nine buildings, all in the northwest neighborhood of Kennedy Park.
"We're seeing this city as the extraordinary place it actually is," Gov. Janet Mills said.
Mills was joined by Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as well as representatives from Maine Housing and the City of Lewiston.
The housing project is set to open in 2025.
For the people moving out of low-income housing and moving into Wedgewood, their previous housing will need to be evaluated by the city, according to Misty Parker, Lewiston's assistant director of economic and community development.
"As the market for housing tightens in Lewiston, we will be revisiting that. But as of right now, those units won't be renovated," Parker said.
While the goal of opening 82 new units in Lewiston will help alleviate the pressures of a statewide housing crisis, those experiencing homelessness in Lewiston continue to feel the strain as well.
"We've had 374 people in the last year, which is double than the year before," Erin Read, who works with the Trinity Jubilee Center in Lewiston, which hosts a homeless shelter and soup kitchen.
Read said the number of unhoused people they service doubled over just one year, and they don't see it slowing down.
"Usually you get a case worker, and you can get help, and then get into a house. But now you do everything right and play by the rules, and you get nothing," Read said. "There's just nowhere to go right now."
Those experiencing homelessness said they also want to see more resources directed at immediate solutions to those on the street, including Shelly Alvarez, who said she and her husband became homeless just one week ago.
"We got behind on rent, and now here we are. We have nowhere to go and no help," Alvarez said.
Alvarez said her husband stopped working during the rain. He works on driveways and wasn't able to get enough work to pay for rent.
"It's been hell. It's been awful trying to find a spot to sleep at night," Alvarez said. "It's scary, very scary, and very stressful. I don't know what day-to-day is going to happen. I don't know if we're going to find a spot every night."
Alvarez said she is excited about the new low-income housing project, as it will help the entire city, but wants more immediate relief for those living on the street.
"I think they should prioritize the people who are homeless," Alvarez said. "I'm just praying something happens, and happens in time."
Alvarez said she is in contact with a case worker who is working to get her into a women's shelter, and her husband into a men's shelter in the same building. She said the process has been slow, but she remains hopeful the more units that are added, the more space will be available in shelters in the coming months.