Photo / Courtesy MaineHousing
Daniel Brennan of MaineHousing
Updated: September 10, 2024
$2M from state will fund warming centers across Maine this winter
A dozen overnight warming shelters from Presque Isle to Biddeford will be able to open this winter with $2 million in state funding, MaineHousing announced Monday.
Funding comes from the state’s Emergency Housing Relief Fund.
Awards range from $30,000 for the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, which can accommodate 38 people per night, to $255,985 for Tedford Housing in Brunswick, which can provide warmth to 22 people per night.
“The partners that have been selected for these funds have taken innovative approaches to providing services to those experiencing homelessness in winter in Maine,” said MaineHousing Director Dan Brennan. “We are grateful to all of them.”
The Emergency Housing Relief Fund has been a critical tool in the state's efforts to tackle the affordable housing crisis, and part of a multiyear effort to improve the state’s housing conditions.
“These overnight warming shelters will play a vital role in protecting people from the cold during our harsh winter months,” Gov. Janet Mills said. “I am grateful for the communities that have responded to this important need and thank MaineHousing for distributing this financial support, which I proposed, and the Legislature approved.
“My administration will continue to work with MaineHousing, the Legislature, local communities and other partners to continue to address the need for short-term emergency housing and attainable, long-term housing across Maine."
While much of the funding will be awarded to organizations that have shown success in the past, beneficiaries also include new entities helping in communities that were previously short on shelter accommodations or had efforts in place that were funded only by limited local resources.
In most cases, the grants will be used in combination with and leverage other local sources of funding to help community members facing a winter housing crisis.
“When awarding these resources, we always look to get the most we can from the investment of precious public dollars," said Lauren Bustard, MaineHousing's senior director of homeless initiatives. "We work to stretch those dollars whenever possible and have made difficult choices at times as we know the demand and the need is great in many places."
Funding recipients and amounts
- Augusta Emergency Overnight Warming Center: $218,170
- Bangor Area Homeless Shelters: $30,000
- Brick Church, Bangor: $40,540
- Commonspace, Bath: $225,000
- Healthy Acadia, Ellsworth: $225,000
- Homeless Services of Aroostook, Presque Isle: $135,000
- Kaydenz Kitchen, Lewiston: $279,693
- Mansion Church, Bangor: $60,000
- Mid-Maine Homeless Shelters, Waterville: $225,000
- New Beginnings, Lewiston: $108,000
- Seeds of Hope, Biddeford: $246,160
- Tedford Housing, Brunswick: $255,983
MaineHousing is a quasi-state agency created by the Maine State Legislature in 1969 to address the problems of unsafe, unsuitable, overcroweded and unaffordable housing.
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