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Molly Feeney is the executive director of Homeworthy, a human services organization based in Midcoast Maine that operates a 22-bed family shelter and runs a case management program working with folks experiencing homelessness.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to avoid any consideration of just how difficult it is “out there.” So, let’s not dodge it, let’s talk about it. As a local nonprofit in midcoast Maine serving community members experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity, we are often asked: “How are you holding up?” The answer is never simple. On one hand, we witness incredible resilience, bravery, and hardworking neighbors who are trying desperately to support their families. We also see thoughtful community members who are hardwired to help others and offer unconditional compassion. As SNAP benefit funding fell under question, neighbors from across this state took notice and asked the question, “How can I help?” We are reminded of this simple yet profound notion often: Mainers are neighbors, and when our neighbors are navigating difficult circumstances, we do what we can for them.
The flipside of this complex community coin is the scary reality that housing costs are out of reach for many working families. Heat and electricity are often treated like amenities rather than the essential utilities that they are. Food, phone access, hygiene products, insurance, transportation, childcare, debt — families across the state of Maine are asked to make impossible choices around all of these costs, with one consistent outcome for many: certain essential needs go unfulfilled.
With so many households unable to make ends meet, let’s not allow current and effective systems to crumble. Specifically, I am speaking to our statewide emergency shelter system. With a lean 1,200 beds scattered around this state, it is a system that has relied on a conservative amount of state funding that is disconnected from the actual operational costs.
It is a system that saves lives, supplies warm beds, meals, and services — services that offer support navigating housing solutions, healthcare connections, and skill development. It is a system that keeps people off the street and out of encampments. In other words, it is an incredibly efficient problem-solving model.
As the sun drops below the horizon earlier each day and temperatures plummet, every shelter worker across Maine begins to hold their breath. We hope that we will be able to reach people in need with a safe bed or essential supplies, but more fundamentally, all 38 shelters across this great state are hoping we can even remain operational. Some are figuring out funding one week at a time, while for others it is a month to month, or an annual math game.
We were fortunate that Maine’s Legislature enacted a one-time supplement increase last year, which prevented the loss of more beds, and importantly demonstrated that a reasonable influx of funding (when made permanent) will sustain critically needed Maine shelter beds. Without permanent funding, the cost to Mainers will be devastating. Our vulnerable rural shelters will shutter, as we have already seen in York County. Should we lose shelters in places like Aroostook County, Mainers without housing will be forced to travel over three hours to find a warm bed, and with most shelters already operating at full capacity night after night, they will still most likely end up outside.
As our shelter colleagues around the state gear up for another winter, we’re also trying to prepare for the consequences of forecasted federal changes that will inevitably displace more people from their homes. Let’s do what Mainers do best: whatever we can to help.
This is an invitation to step outside of the noisy (and important) ideological debates and explore ways we can be neighborly. Give what you can of your time, talent, and treasure to agencies in your community that ease the burdens of folks who are navigating life without a stable home. But most importantly, let’s call on our state to fund life-saving systems like emergency shelters. Permanent shelter funding is not an out-of-reach expense, especially when considering the cost of its loss. It is not political, as reinforced with bipartisan support last session. Supporting this efficient system is neighborly, and it is simply the right thing to do.
