Last Friday at Tedford Housing, for the first time in memory, five men who spoke little English knocked on our door asking for a bed for the night. It was a bit chaotic as they patiently strained to control their desperation — strained be heard.
Everyone is worried about housing right now, with good reason. Even as federal policies beyond our control create untenable situations for service providers, people seeking asylum and Mainers, our human service agencies and state leaders continue to collaborate on addressing both acute needs and systemic shortcomings. Solutions to our crisis are on the way, and each of us has a part to play.
First and foremost, there is immense action underway to expand both emergency and permanent affordable housing capacity statewide. In March the state funded 17 projects that will support housing and shelter for over 500 Mainers by year’s end. At Tedford Housing, our daily efforts at serving the southern Midcoast are matched by the intensity of our effort to fund construction of an expanded new emergency housing facility that will transform our ability to meet our mission. We have raised over half of the $8.3 million price tag thanks to the support of generous individuals, foundations and corporations, and we are aggressively pursuing additional funds to let us break ground.
Meanwhile the state legislature is considering at least 70 bills related to housing and homelessness, and here’s where you can help. Ask your state legislators to support these bills that have been endorsed by Tedford and our partners:
•LD 1844 would create a $10 million matching fund to support the creation of emergency shelters, either by renovating existing buildings or building new.
•LD 2 would allocate $13 million for a Housing First program to serve people facing chronic homelessness.
•LD 1426, 1675 and 1732 would reform the general assistance program so municipalities can better support residents at risk of homelessness.
•LD 226 would appropriate $40 million in each of the next five years to fund new affordable housing for low-income households.
•LD 1074 would create a $100 million bond issue (subject to voter approval), also for new affordable housing.
These are the kinds of long overdue investments that will create a housing system capable of solving homelessness in Maine. Shelter operators, Maine Housing, and others in the system are already working toward that goal by developing a coordinated entry system that collects and shares data so that individual barriers are well understood and every person experiencing homelessness has a pathway to stable housing.
With Maine’s housing crisis already longstanding, it is fair to ask how the homeless system will be impacted by the recent arrival of many asylum seekers and refugees. Professionals in both the homeless response arena and immigrant and refugee services agree that the two populations have different needs and are best served by separate systems. Although Portland recently chose to repurpose its new homeless shelter to house new asylum seekers and refugees, fears that locals will be boxed out of existing shelters and services across the state are overblown. In fact, the coordinated shelter intake process continues to prioritize individuals who meet certain criteria like duration of homelessness and risk of domestic violence.
Taking the long view, we know that the highly skilled asylum seekers arriving today will bring stability and dynamism to Maine’s workforce during the coming era of mass retirements that would otherwise be economically catastrophic. Immigrants, as ever, will make us stronger as fast as we can make them belong.
But this moment is scary, as the overwhelmed safety net spills over to further strain our social fabric. To weather this period my plea is this: keep reaching out. Don’t give up on the possibilities of faith communities, family and friends to collaborate on small-scale solutions. Don’t give up on service agencies and elected representatives who are working long hours on large-scale solutions. Don’t give up on getting to know your neighbors, even if you don’t agree on everything. And don’t give up on your own power to make a difference. Speak up, pitch in, and keep listening for voices straining to be heard.
Andrew Lardie is interim executive director of Tedford Housing. Giving voice is a weekly collaboration among four local non-profit service agencies to share information and stories about their work in the community.
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