PORTLAND, Maine — With arms filled with bags and boxes, dozens of asylum seekers stepped off a Greyhound bus in Portland early Friday morning looking for a fresh start.
"I just want to be able to help," John Ochira said.
Ochira, who serves on the board of the Maine Immigrant RIghts Coalition was the first to greet the families who packed into the small station for warmth.
Many wearing coats and jackets along with socks and flip-flops packed their belongings, the only things they own, into a cargo van.
Ochira quickly called cabs to get them to food and shelter.
"I'm out here because I came here as a refugee, and I had no capacity whatsoever to help myself," Ochira said. "I know so many people that I met, and others that I didn't meet, that made it possible for me."
This group of men, women, and children traveled by bus from San Antonio, Texas–the same city where many of the more than 450 people seeking asylum came from over the summer.
Most of the people are originally from African countries and made their way into the United States through Mexico.
Catholic Charities has been integral in paying for individuals to make the trip from Texas to Portland.
City officials confirmed 28 people will be temporarily housed at the Chestnut Street Shelter.
"We are certainly seen as a welcoming community," City Manager Jon Jenning said Thursday. " There was a lot of anxiety created in the city over the summer, and it's manageable now."
The city has no new plans in place to address another influx.
Jennings insisted that the city had the necessary resources in place to help, but there are no plans to open an emergency shelter at the Portland Expo as they did last time.
Instead, if more asylum seekers arrive as expected, they will utilize the Oxford Street Shelter and the YMCA.
"We certainly can't do everything for everyone," he told reporters.
That means city leaders will depend on community partners and organizations like the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition to step up.
The Coalition was integral in finding housing for at least 40 other families with host families across 12 Maine cities in recent months.
"Some of these guys are coming from places where they didn't have much of a chance at all and they're looking for that chance here in Maine," Ochira said. "I think everybody should be able to understand."
Officials said as many as 150 more asylum seekers could make their way to Maine in the coming weeks.
The more than $800,000 in private donations raised over the summer and new federal funding granted to the city has yet to be allocated to community organizations.
A spokesperson said they are working on an application process.