A Portland nonprofit will take over a struggling Bangor homeless shelter this winter.
Preble Street announced Tuesday that it will begin overseeing the Hope House, a 56-bed low-barrier emergency shelter for unhoused adults in early 2025.
That caps off an expected transition after Preble Street and Penobscot Community Health Center, which currently operates Hope House, told the Bangor City Council in September that the Portland nonprofit planned to step in to oversee the shelter.
Penobscot Community Health Center began looking for a new organization to take over the emergency shelter after it experienced a $700,000 budget shortfall in 2023. That shortfall has ballooned to an expected $1 million this year.
The Hope House shelter is one of five adult low-barrier shelters in Maine and the only one north of Waterville, according to Preble Street.
“The loss of Hope House would’ve been felt statewide,” Mark Swann, Preble Street’s executive director, said in a Tuesday statement.
Swann credited Gov. Janet Mills and the Legislature for making the transition possible because of $7.5 million set aside for Maine’s low-barrier shelters over the next three years.
“This funding allows Preble Street to feel able to take on this responsibility, in support of the city of Bangor, Bangor’s healthcare and social service agencies, and the vulnerable Mainers in need of shelter. We will continue to fill in the budget gaps with the private support from community members and other funders that help us keep the doors open,” said Swann, who called on the state to prioritize permanent funding for low-barrier shelters.
Penobscot Community Health Center will continue to operate 48 transitional housing units and a health care clinic in the same building where the shelter is located. The organization also will go ahead with a planned expansion of the building, which is expected to increase the shelter’s capacity to its pre-pandemic level of 66 beds. The City Council voted last year to give $2.77 million to support that expansion.
“This is certainly a win for the health and wellbeing of those who seek shelter services at the Hope House, and for our community. PCHC is optimistic about the benefits that will be brought to our community through its partnership with Preble Street, a strong social service agency with a long history of serving the most vulnerable,” said Lori Dwyer, president and CEO of Penobscot Community Health Center.
