PORTLAND, Maine — The City of Portland says they have launched an application process for community partners to request reimbursement for assistance they gave the more than 450 asylum seekers that came to Maine in the summer of 2019.
The hundreds of African asylum seekers stayed in an emergency shelter at the Portland Expo for more than two months between June 9 and August 15. Portland's City Manager Jon Jennings said aid for the asylum seekers poured into the city and after 4,000 donors the city is pleased that they can reimburse some of the assistance provided.
“Although our community partners came to the aid of asylum seekers with no expectation of being reimbursed for costs incurred, on behalf of the City Council, I’m pleased to announce a funding opportunity for nonprofit entities who assisted during this influx,” said City Manager Jon Jennings.
During the summer months, City officials say they were able to house more than 200 people with additional families being placed in host homes and others staying at the City’s Family Shelter until housing units could be found and arranged.
The Expo shelter was the first time the City had run a 24/7 emergency family shelter operation, according to Portland City officials.
The City received over $900,000 in donations to help the asylum seekers. The cost to run the Expo emergency shelter exceeded $400,000. In October, the City of Portland Family Shelter was awarded a reimbursement of $864,079 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program (EFSP). These funds will not be appropriated as they were awarded to defray costs for expenditures already incurred.
Organizations interested in receiving the reimbursement application should send an email to ASDonations@portlandmaine.gov, including the name of the organization and a contact person. The City will then send the Community Partner Application for Reimbursement and any updates on the application process.
"There will be different forms to fill out, whether you assisted with food or you assisted with housing or any other kind of language services," Portland's Director of Communications, Jessica Grondin said. "We know that those community partners that worked so hard with us... that they were needing assistance and we wanted to get the application process out now even though we haven't received reimbursement from general assistance just yet."
The City of Portland says they expect to begin disbursing the approved funds in January.
