PORTLAND, Maine — A 65-year-old man was found dead off Hobart Street near an unhoused encampment Friday night, according to the Portland Police Department. It is the third unhoused death within a two-week span, and unhoused advocates said it's a sign not enough resources are available to people who need them.
Shay Dufour, who is formerly homeless and now is an advocate for people experiencing homelessness, said she feels like a broken record about what resources unhoused people need.
"We're just seeing the same pattern go on," Dufour said. "Every time someone dies, it sets off an alarm. We are in a pandemic of the unhoused. It is a crisis, and we have to do something."
Dufour and a few other advocates brought food, clothes, sunscreen, and Narcan to the Marginal Way encampment, which was the site of two deaths in the last week due to suspected overdoses.
"The Portland people do not want us homeless people in their city," James Brensinger said.
Brensinger said he recently became homeless with his family, just starting to live on the streets in the last few weeks.
"I was unemployed for a while, getting jobs here and there, not enough rent money," Brensinger said. "It's been really hard, it sucks. I've had only two showers in the last month."
His family lives in their car while he sleeps in a tent outside to conserve space. Brensinger said he heard about the resource event through word of mouth.
He said food resources from local organizations don't come on weekends, so Sunday's event at Marginal Way was useful.
Many of the people who live at the Marginal Way encampment used to stay at the Bayside Trail encampment.
The Bayside Trail encampment was forcibly dispersed by the city, which claimed it was unsafe for the people who stayed there.
"They're trying to get us further from the city," Paul Cann, who is unhoused, said.
Cann was removed from the Bayside encampment and now stays at Marginal Way. He said hearing about the three deaths within two weeks is not surprising, stating morale is low among the unhoused community seeing how few shelter beds are available.
"We're just regular people. We're all just one paycheck away," Cann said.
There were hygiene products and items for safe sex also distributed, provided by the Church of Safe Injection.
Dufour and other advocates hope to host another resource event in Lewiston, Sunday, July 2.