Homeless Taskforce Update #8 (11/21)

The Homeless Task Force Meeting #8 was held on November 20, 2023.

A Save the Date for the Homelessness in York County Summit has been sent to all York County Managers to extend to their respective elected officials and administrative staff working around homelessness. York County Community Action Corp (YCCAC) is sending to all State Legislators to save the date.

The Mental Health Unit (MHU) of the Sanford Police Department reported;

  • 199 Unique Contacts with Persons living outside
  • 150 People documented as living outside/unhoused and or in an automobile
    • Seeing an average of 2 additional people per week
    • NOT seeing the historical decrease living outside that typically find cooperative shelter or go back to family/friends – a new observation for this year
  • 2 Elderly People have been issued an Emergency Homeless Voucher
    • Case Management is seeking an Apartment
  • Three (3) additional people noted as recent evictions – cannot afford to re-enter housing
  • Heritage Drive Encampment
    • Trash collection every two weeks – remains working
    • Discussed complexities for portable facilities
    • Encampment is growing in size, number, and type of structures
  • Meals are being further coordinated to include weekends and now Holidays
  • Food pantries are experiencing volumes of 150% their capacities 
  • Discussed Use of Gateway Park Restrooms during food distributions.
    • Have been winterized, water off, no heat inside 
  • Discussed use of Memorial Gym shower facilities in lieu of or in conjunction with YMCA facilities.

Homeless Summit for December 11 at 7:00PM at the Sanford Performing Arts Center

Save the Date Notices have been sent for distribution to all York County State Legislators and Municipal Elected Officials to plan to attend.

The Forum seeks to communicate collectively to the entire York County State Legislative Officials, and in coordination with our Local Elected Officials, the immediate necessities of addressing Homelessness at our local levels and how this translates into a need for further State address. A Data Walk of stats from our Communities as well as a Collective Presentation will be made of Who and Why, Numbers, Actions, and Deficiencies in Capacities that are creating and or prolonging Homelessness.

The end of the Summit will allow for interactions with the State Legislators on the information and a series of requests for Long Term, Short Term, and Immediate needs to address Homelessness. It is the goal to communicate both needs and priorities to our State Legislators to inform their decisions and assignment of resources within the next legislative session and into the future. As one example, there is an Emergency Bill requesting to increase funding for Shelter Services in our State from $2.5 million to $12.0 million. For York County, why is this funding important and why is it so desperately needed.

After the presentation, a list of Long Term, Short Term, and Immediate Needs will be presented outline currently as;

Long Term –

  • Mental Health Bed Capacities – increase number of beds and funding
  • Substance Use Disorder Beds – increase number of beds and funding
  • Better Coordination of Statewide Housing Council and Regional Councils
  • Maine State Housing Funds towards
    • Housing First Units
    • Low to Moderate Income Housing
    • Workforce Housing
    • Other Housing Opportunities

Short Term –

  • Increase Shelter Options and Services o
    • Low Barrier SUD Friendly with Case Management o
    • High Barrier Drug/Alcohol Free without Case Management 
  • Regional Coordination of Alternative Shelter Options such as Gyms, others
  • Coordinated Data Entry for all Social Service Providers and State General Assistance

Immediate – 

  • Coordinated Entry and Case Conferencing for all Services and Shelter Options
  • Diversion Funds to Gap Rental Costs to prevent Evictions
  • Warming Center Services – get people out of the cold

These points will be further refined prior to the Summit based upon the collective input across all participating Communities and Agencies.

Dan Coyne, Senior Vice President, Community Impact & Governance of United Way of Southern Maine, participated with the Task Force communicating the ALICE Report and how to relate our recent insurgence of people being evicted and becoming Homeless. Dan indicated that the morning after the Homeless Summit on December 12 at 7:30AM, United Way is hosting a Legislative Breakfast at York County Community College for York and Cumberland County State Representatives to convey the ALICE Report for Maine, specifically our two Counties. The ALICE Report quantifies the true cost of living in a particular location in comparison to the incomes. It is a formal expression of “the working poor” and examines how the true cost of living is outstripping wages and equalizes the analysis across zip codes. See the prior report for further details.

The Task Force found that the Homeless Summit on 12/11 and then the ALICE Summit on 12/12 is a collaborative presentation on key information that should be a focus for our Elected Officials as they work for the ensuing year on priorities and budgeting.

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