Shalom House completes renovation for residential program in Portland
Courtesy / Shalom House
30 Mellen St. in Portland will become home to 22 individuals with severe mental illness.
Shalom House Inc., which provides housing and support services to people living with severe and persistent mental illness, has completed the renovation of 30 Mellen St. in Portland into a new residential program for 22 individuals.
Shalom House purchased the property in Portland in 2018. It previously had been home to a long-running program providing substance use recovery services called Serenity House.
Renovation of the property began in January, 2021 and was completed recently. The construction manager was HardyPond Construction.
Funding for this project was made possible by Norway Savings, MaineHousing, Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston and the Genesis Fund. The total cost of the renovation was not disclosed.
30 Mellen St. is located three blocks from Park Avenue and one block from Congress Street, allowing for easy access to bus stops that are located at the intersection of Mellen Street and these streets.
The property is also within walking distance to Maine Medical Center, as well as convenience stores, banks, post office and other businesses. This central location will provide all residents with easy access to needed services and goods.
The main house, combined with the Carriage House behind it, will provide high quality, affordable housing for 22 individuals with severe and persistent mental illness.
There will be 12 single room occupancy units that will share common areas including a kitchen, bathrooms and living space and be self-contained from the rest of the building and other tenants. There will also be five efficiency apartments and one one-bedroom apartment, while the Carriage House will have four apartments for families.
“One of the many benefits of this house is the fact it provides the opportunity for the clients to transition out of the residential treatment program and into their own efficiency or apartment while still allowing them to be in a familiar location,” said Shalom House. “The make-up of this building allows us to provide a continuum of services and living arrangements all within the same location.”
The current program is housed in a small house that has limited common areas and office space. The new home at 30 Mellen St. would substantially expand the available space, allowing staff to do more programming with clients, including one-on-one work, as well as more group work.
There’s also a much larger kitchen for teaching cooking skills as well as two living room areas for other activities and groups. It also would allow more space for staff areas that would allow for better monitoring of the living areas as well as bedroom areas, Shalom House said.
The additional space will allow Shalom House to offer cooking classes, budgeting and banking classes, movie nights among other services.
Part of the rehabilitation of this property includes saving as much of the original, historic qualities of the house as possible while also providing updated, efficient systems. The property also has a large side yard, as well as on-street and off-street parking.
Shalom House provides housing and support services for people living with mental illness. In addition, they provide housing subsidies to hundreds of people in the state of Maine. The agency operates 28 buildings, including group homes, rooming houses and apartment buildings in Cumberland and York counties.
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