May 9—ALFRED — With an hour to go before the deadline to leave, Kurt Frank stood outside the front door of the homeless shelter where he’s been staying for the last five weeks, a pile of bags stuffed full of his belongings at his feet.
York County Shelter Programs, the nonprofit that runs the county’s only homeless shelter, announced last week it would shutter some of its operations because it could no longer afford to operate. Since then, residents have been scrambling to find other places to go, a task that for some felt nearly impossible.
Frank, who has serious health issues and lived in a tent for a year before coming to the shelter in Alfred, will spend the next 10 days in a motel in Sanford paid for by the city’s General Assistance program.
After that, he doesn’t know what he’ll do.
“I keep asking the good Lord, ‘When is enough?’ It’s just awful,” Frank, 54, said as he waited for a friend to pick him up.
The nonprofit organization announced last week that it had laid off 20 of its 70 employees and would suspend some of the programs it runs for people experiencing housing insecurity in York County. The board of directors said the closure of its adult shelter is necessary because of “significant and growing financial limitations,” and called the decision gut-wrenching.
The closure of the shelter comes as shelter providers across Maine push for additional state funding to cover the cost of operating homeless shelters. Emergency shelters in Maine receive $7 per night per bed in state funding, although a recent study by MaineHousing found the actual cost per bed is $102 per night.
SOME PROGRAMS WILL STAY OPEN
Earlier this week, the York County Commissioners voted to take over operations at the York County Shelter Programs food pantry, which serves about 6,000 people each month. The food pantry is already housed in a county-owned building and clients will not see an interruption in services.
The county will pull $25,000 from a contingency fund to keep the food pantry running through the end of the year. Commissioners also voted to set aside $100,000 in the next fiscal year to fully take over pantry operations and hire staff.
York County Shelter Programs has operated a homeless shelter since 1980, serving about 650 men, women and children each year. There were 37 residents in the adult shelter when the closure was announced last week.
Kelli Deveaux, spokesperson for the board of directors, said Friday that the family shelter will stay open until all 16 current residents find alternative housing or another organization can take over operations.
Layman Way Recovery Center, a 17-bed treatment facility, currently has nine clients and will stay open until June 30. That closing date had already been scheduled in coordination with the opening of a new county-run recovery center. No new clients will be accepted at Layman Way.
The nonprofit will also continue to operate its affordable housing program, which includes 24 separate properties with 117 apartment units across York County. Books ReVisited, a used bookstore in Sanford run by volunteers to support YCSP clients, will stay open.
Deveaux said the organization will retain 23 full- and part-time staff members, but about 30 employees will be laid off after Friday.
“These are dedicated and valued employees who have provided life changing services for those in need in York County,” Deveaux said in a statement. “Their impact has been immense, and we urge the community to send the kind words and offers of assistance received by YCSP to these heroes who have done so much for others.”
‘NOWHERE TO GO’
This week, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers from York County sent a letter to Gov. Janet Mills and MaineHousing Director Dan Brennan urging them find a way to prevent the closure of the shelter.
“The closure of the York County Shelter would be the loss of a vital community resource and have a significant and long-lasting negative impact on the folks who have found support and hope there. Existing programs and resources, which are limited, may be unable to handle an influx of demand for assistance,” they wrote.
House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, said in a social media post that Brennan told them that MaineHousing is working to figure out options for people displaced by the closure.
A spokesperson said the governor’s office “is concerned and monitoring the situation in York County” and referred questions to MaineHousing. MaineHousing has been in daily contact with the shelter staff in Alfred and is assisting with funding through existing contracts and the properties mortgaged through the agency, according to spokesperson Scott Thistle.
“We are so impressed with the interim administration and staff in York County, who have safely re-housed everyone staying at the adult shelter and have found a way to keep the family shelter and all permanent housing units operating,” Thistle said in a statement. “We will continue to work with all interested parties on the medium- and long-term plans of reopening an important shelter operation for southern Maine.”
Deveaux said the board and staff have also been working with York County Community Action Corporation, Preble Street, Caring Unlimited, Seeds of Hope in Biddeford, Sanford Housing, the Sanford city manager and the York County Task Force on Homelessness to transition people to other support services.
Shelter staff have also been working directly with residents to try to make alternative housing plans. Deveaux said all 37 residents of the shelter had a plan in place for housing by Friday.
But some people leaving the shelter Friday said they were still trying to find long-term housing.
Joanne Goodreau, who had been staying at the shelter since November, said some people at the shelter were able to move into other properties run by the shelter program, but others “were scattering.” She said some people planned to go to a warming shelter in Biddeford or a larger shelter in Portland.
“Some people have moved on but for the people who haven’t, I don’t know what they’re doing,” Goodreau said Thursday afternoon. “There’s really nowhere to go.”
Staff at the Homeless Services Center in Portland have taken a high number of calls from people from the Alfred shelter, but no one had gone to the Portland shelter by Friday afternoon, a city spokesperson said.
Goodreau, 62, said a friend was putting her up in a motel for a few days, but she doesn’t know where she’ll go after that. She said she’s lucky to have a car and worries most about the older people with medical needs who have been displaced.
Frank, the resident waiting for a ride from the shelter on Friday, said he’s dealing with anxiety, depression and COPD on top of the stress of moving out. He said he “bawled like a baby” when staff told him the shelter would close.
Frank said his only income is a monthly Social Security disability check of $1,073, not enough to afford a room through the shelter program or an apartment in the area. There are no housing vouchers available and he’s waiting for a spot in an assisted living facility, he said.
“If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” he said.
Copy the Story Link
We believe it’s important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It’s a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less