BIDDEFORD — For at least 25 years, maybe longer, there has a been a familiar figure on the streets of Biddeford and Saco: An elderly, bent-over woman, wearing a heavy jacket all year round, moving her mountains of filled shopping bags back and forth between the twin cities.
While there are other homeless people in Biddeford, Lorette is the lone, visible “bag lady” and her presence, to a degree, has been accepted over the years.
In the past, a number of businesses have accommodated her, letting her use their facilities.
Many residents have looked out for her, offering rides and food. Some have called the Biddeford Police Department, worried something has happened to her, when they haven’t seen her on the streets for a few days.
But now, some say her condition is deteriorating, and people are less accommodating.
Members of the downtown business community say something should be done, not only for her safety, but also because her presence is a detriment to businesses.
Downtown Development Commission Chairman Brian Keely said he’s been told by business owners that her presence scares away potential customers. He said he’s seen her lying on the sidewalks on Main Street and people have gone up to her, thinking she’s in distress.
Keely said he’s worried about Lorette’s condition and fears she’ll be found dead on the streets one day soon. Then, Keely said, “the headlines will read, ”˜Why wasn’t anything done?’”
Mayor Joanne Twomey said she, too, is worried about Lorette’s health and safety and concerned how her presence affects the downtown.
“I ordered her to be taken off the streets,” said Twomey.
But even with an order from the mayor, there are no easy answers.
If Lorette doesn’t want help, which so far she has refused, there appears to be little that can be done either by the city or the state, said a spokesman for the Adult Protective Services, which is under the Department of Health and Human Services.
Unless she is found to be a danger to herself or others, she cannot be deemed “incapacitated” and cannot be forced into a shelter.
No one knows for sure how Lorette, 79, ended up on the streets.
Biddeford’s Health and Human Services Director Vicky Edgerly said Lorette has been living on the streets since before she began working for the city, 25 years ago.
According to various sources, Lorette was an only child and after her parents died, she had no immediate family to look after her. There are rumors that when Lorette was younger, she once lived in a house that burned down and that’s why she wants to live outside.
It’s hard to get the whole story from Lorette. Some of what she says makes sense and at other times she’s hard to follow. Because of privacy laws, no one can officially confirm whether she suffers from a mental illness.
In a recent interview, Lorette said she was born and raised in Biddeford. She attended St. Andre School and she worked in the Biddeford mills at one time. And Biddeford is where she wants to stay.
She said she likes living outside because “I have to take care of my birds.” Lorette said she feeds the birds on the streets and watches over them.
“I feed them little pieces of potato chips, that’s easy to digest,” she said. She worries when she sees some people throw toast to the birds, which she says is hard for them to eat.
She talks about moving into an apartment on Water Street in Saco. Supposedly she’s talked about moving there for years. She also said she works for Saco Defense.
She’s a proud woman. She doesn’t ask people for money, and sometimes even gives a few dollars to those who offer her rides.
For years, said Edgerly, her office has tried to step in. Adult Protective Services has visited Lorette and evaluated her, but so far, no one has deemed her incapacitated.
While some don’t understand or accept a lifestyle that’s different from theirs, it doesn’t make it illegal, said Edgerly.
Just because a person may “make decisions that are poor in our view,” said Bryan Goodwin, the supervisor for Adult Protective Services for York County, “doesn’t mean they are incapacitated.
“The law is very specific about when a person can be forced to a situation they don’t want to be in,” said Goodwin. Unless a person is viewed as a danger to himself or others, no one can be involuntarily committed into a situation they don’t want to be in, he said. A person is viewed as capable “until determined otherwise by a physical or psychologist,” he said.
Even if incapacity is proven, he said, the court doesn’t automatically appoint guardianship of an incapacitated individual to the state. It also must be proven “that the guardian will improve that person’s lot in life.”
Also, if a person is placed in a shelter and they don’t want to be there, he or she could decide to leave the facility and nothing can be done, said Goodwin.
If the mental health field is unable to deal with Lorette, another alternative is law enforcement.
Since September 2010, the police have responded to incidents regarding Lorette on more than 60 occasions, according to the Biddeford Police logs. Incidents range from those complaining about Lorette’s bags in front of their business, to her walking in a disoriented fashion in the streets, to those worried about her welfare.
According to Biddeford Police Chief Roger Beaupre, “Nobody wants to see her arrested, yet everybody wants her off the streets, or more candidly speaking, out of their sight. If the state and local social agencies determine that she is mentally competent, able to take care of herself, and deem her personal hygiene at an acceptable level of care, then exactly what do people expect the police to do?
“Until she commits a crime for which she can be charged, or until some responsible agency orders her taken into protective custody, the police are limited with options.”
Recently, another evaluation of Lorette was conducted and state and city officials are awaiting the results.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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