Bangor is funding two warming centers this year, ending weeks of uncertainty about whether the city would have enough of them to keep homeless residents out of the cold this winter.
The Brick Church on Union Street received funding from the city after it was denied funding in September from MaineHousing, which has financed the warming center in the past.
The Together Place, a peer-run recovery center on Second Street, also received funds to open an overnight warming center for the first time.
The loss of state funding for the Brick Church and the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter’s decision to stop offering a warming center left a critical gap. The support for the two additional organizations means Bangor will be back to having three overnight warming shelters after a period of uncertainty.
“We definitely need the three warming centers,” said Terry Dinkins, the pastor of the Mansion Church. His organization would have been the only overnight warming center if not for the extra city funding.
Overnight warming centers provide a place for homeless people to go in the coldest months of the year and can also offer hot meals and winter clothes to help protect people from the elements — services that are especially important as Bangor’s homeless shelters consistently reach capacity and have to turn people away.
The Brick Church plans to have space for 70 people each night, and the Together Place will have space for 40, according to a memo sent by Bangor’s public health director, Jennifer Gunderman, ahead of Monday’s City Council workshop meeting.
At this point, Bangor has allocated $30,000 each for the Brick Church and the Together Place, but the City Council will vote Monday on sending additional funds to both organizations, according to City Manager Carollynn Lear.
If approved, each group will have $60,000 to run a warming center. Councilors seemed receptive to the idea when it was first discussed in a workshop Oct. 27.
Lear told them at the time that supporting one warming center would be “barely enough,” but that adding more money to the funding pool to support two would make getting through the winter much more manageable.
City Council initially approved $60,000 for warming centers earlier in October and put out an application for it amid worries that having only one in the city wouldn’t be enough. The money comes from a one-time General Assistance payment.
“We got two applications, both of which were from organizations that showed that they had genuine solid capacity to do warming shelters,” Lear said.
According to Monday’s City Council meeting agenda, both organizations will use outside fundraising and volunteers to supplement city funding “and expressed that they each needed the full $60,000 City appropriation to successfully operate.”
Another warming center, the Mansion Church on Center Street, already opened Nov. 1. The church opens its warming space from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. every night.
As it gets colder, demand is starting to increase, according to Dinkins. Eighteen people used the space Thursday night, he said, and a recently completed expansion to the church basement will allow up to 50 people to stay there.
“We can do that anytime. We’re ready to go,” Dinkins said.
He emphasized how important it is that Bangor continues to have three warming centers like it did last year. “I don’t think one could handle it this winter,” he said. “I’m very grateful that the Together Place stepped up to be the third warming center.”
Things are going smoothly so far, Dinkins said, but he added that the Mansion Church will need more volunteers when it opens the basement space as demand increases. The organization is also looking for donations of supplies like bottled water, toiletries and blankets, he said.
Joseph Hartel, interim executive director of the Together Place, declined to comment Friday ahead of Monday’s council vote. The Brick Church pastor Leon Licata did not respond to a request for comment.
