Bangor’s homelessness response manager, Jena Jones, resigned last month about a year and a half after the position was created.
After years of struggling to address homelessness, the city created the role as a key piece in Bangor’s approach to the problem. Jones aimed to coordinate the various local organizations that serve homeless community members and improve data on homelessness in the area.
Her resignation comes as the city plans to close its largest homeless encampment in the next two weeks and create a long-term plan to address the issue. Chronic homelessness has plagued Bangor for years as it clears encampments while failing to secure housing and support for all of the people living there.
City staff indicated they’re not rushing to hire a replacement right away.
“Let’s think more comprehensively about what we want that role to look like going forward,” City Manager Carollynn Lear said in a City Council committee meeting Monday.
Jones’ resignation took effect Nov. 21, according to a copy of her resignation letter obtained by the Bangor Daily News.
“It has been a true privilege to have spent time employed with the city working on behalf of a community I love,” Jones wrote in the letter. “The time, however, to seek opportunities that are more aligned with my passions and values has come.”
Jones did not respond to a request for an interview Friday.
Some city officials indicated that the homelessness response manager job ended up including different responsibilities from what they’d initially expected.
“It was supposed to have more of a 30,000 foot view, and the need is just so great and the staffing just so short that [Jones’] role was really forced to be on the ground way more than even she probably would have liked,” City Councilor Michael Beck said Monday.
Going forward, he wants to be more focused on coordinating a broader effort and “not get stuck in just doing, you know, ad hoc case management,” Beck said.
Bangor’s public health director, Jennifer Gunderman, said Monday she plans to think carefully about the position and “how it can be most useful” going forward.
“We were very fortunate to have the position when we needed it and Jena did a great job,” she said. Gunderman added that she has taken on most of the role’s responsibilities since Jones’ resignation.
The homelessness response manager position is funded by federal pandemic relief dollars — meaning that money needs to be spent by the end of 2026 or the city will lose it, according to Lear.
The initial hiring process for the role proved challenging. Former City Manager Debbie Laurie said in an April 2024 meeting that the city had been searching for a homelessness response manager for more than four months.
“These positions sometimes take time to fill,” Laurie said. Jones was ultimately brought on in June 2024.
