Tue, 02/14/2023 - 8:45am

SUSAN JOHNS

With a grant Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing) announced Feb. 10 and a nod Feb. 12 from St. Philip’s Church on space, Portland-based Amistad is prepping to offer a warming shelter with food and overnight stays at the Hodge Street, Wiscasset church through April. Amistad Executive Director Brian Townsend told Wiscasset Newspaper in a phone interview Monday, the organization is very glad to be able to offer the shelter in the cold months that remain. “We are so excited about this warming shelter,” he shared.

Via text Sunday evening, St. Philip’s Priest In Charge Tom Junkert confirmed, “the Vestry met with representatives from Amistad and approved St. Philip’s as a warm shelter for overnight stays. Exact details yet to be ironed out.”

Townsend said Amistad looked to Wiscasset and specifically St. Philip’s due to the church’s “reputation as very, very community-oriented,” with its food pantry and other programs. He did not yet have an opening date to announce. According to Amistad’s grant application MaineHousing provided on request, the shelter would be for up to 12 people, who may include couples and families; would operate from 5 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. seven days a week; and dividers would be used to make individual sleeping areas, which would have cots.

Townsend said Edgecomb’s Abigail Boudin will be project manager, St. Philip’s will get $2,000 a month in rent, and Amistad will contact area police and other entities about the shelter and to build on relationships Amistad has through its work on recovery-focused programs in Lincoln County. The grant application noted, “We have been operating our recovery and outreach programs in Lincoln County since 2018 and have an established connection with the support networks in the area, as well as many developed relationships with individuals and families in the area who are struggling to maintain or retain housing.”

The application said of the Wiscasset warming shelter: “Amistad staff will support guests with community navigation, including their efforts to obtain permanent housing and other needed resources.” Length of a stay at the shelter will vary by guests’ situations, Townsend explained. Each person’s housing struggle is different, and Amistad will use its rehousing team, he said.

Asked if Amistad might seek to offer a shelter longer in Wiscasset, Townsend said right now Amistad is 100% focused on this point in time. “(The shelter) needs to work out really well,” for all, he said.

Feb. 10, MaineHousing announced 13 grants together topping $1 million for warming shelters across Maine. Spokesman Scott Thistle told Wiscasset Newspaper in a phone interview, the grant for the Wiscasset one is $50,080.

A MaineHousing press release stated the grants came from the $21 million in emergency funding the Legislature and Gov. Janet Mills approved in January to help with heating and housing.

“With the support of the Winter Emergency Energy Relief Plan, these shelters will protect our most vulnerable citizens and help them stay warm throughout winter,” Mills said in Friday’s release. “I am grateful to the communities that have responded to this important need, and I thank MaineHousing for its swift action to distribute this important financial support. My administration is committed to working with MaineHousing, the Legislature, communities and others to further address the need for both short-term emergency housing and attainable, long-term housing across Maine.”

MaineHousing and its government and non-profit partners “set these funds to action in record time,” due to the urgent need, the release stated. MaineHousing Director Daniel Brennan said in the release, “We are grateful for the support Gov. Mills and the Legislature have shown in helping Maine people deal with not only the weather but with historic inflationary costs as well. The broad bipartisan support for these efforts is also a reflection of the generosity of Maine people themselves. Mainers take care of each other whenever they can and that’s what these facilities are all about.”

The other grants were for one shelter each in Brunswick, Augusta, Houlton, Calais, Waterville, Alfred and Monson, three in Portland and two in Bangor. An Ellsworth shelter, already funded through the state and donations, will also be open through April, the release noted.

St. Philip’s may contribute volunteers to Amistad’s warming shelter at the church, Junkert said. For more on the shelter, email briant@amistadmaine.org