PORTLAND, Maine — Outside the Oxford Street Shelter in Portland Thursday, Karina Dotson said she is considering moving to Mississippi with friends.
She said it might be her only way to escape the cold, and the uncertainty of shelter space on the Portland peninsula.
"The stress here is just unreal," Dotson said. "It's not easy. If you think it is, you should come out here and try it ... all of us ain't out here because we want to be, we have situations that cause us to be here."
Dotson is one of many unhoused Mainers facing the reality of spending nights outside in below freezing temperatures.
Demand for beds is outpacing the supply, and Preble Street Executive Director Mark Swann said the introduction of a new shelter, Elena's Way, is a good start.
"It's a really hard time," Swann said. "What we're facing right now is only going to get more challenging in the coming months."
But while Elena's Way opened in October, staffing shortages at Preble Street have prevented it from opening all 40 beds. Swann said they need to hire six more staff members, and until they do, can only offer 20 beds to people seeking shelter from the cold.
"It's challenging work," Swann said. "This shelter is for people who have been unsheltered fo a long, long time ... We are looking for people who have done this work before or are interested in this for a career."
There is an ongoing list of jobs available at Preble Street, which Swann said must be filled because the federal rental assistance program, known as the Emergency Rental Assistance, is expiring.
"I worry even at that capacity ... the numbers don't quite add up, and with all the shelters closing, I think we're going to see a real crisis," he said.
Swann called the lack of staff terrible.
"It's really hard to get up and running. There are so many obstacles ... so to finally get this up and running, and then to have this, it's really frustrating," Swann said. "It's taken us years to get this place open."
For other Mainers on the Portland peninsula who wait in line for a bed at Oxford Street, the upcoming Nor'easter is a sign of things to come.
"It's frostbite weather. Someone is going to lose a limb down here," said Monica Day.
Day said finding a spot at Oxford Street is difficult, and that overcrowding is becoming even more of a concern.
"They need to stop and think about what they have and what little we have," Day said. "We're trying to bring us up to become someone. We are all someone."