Bangor hired a new homelessness response coordinator Tuesday, about a month and a half after the person who previously held the role abruptly resigned.
The new coordinator, Bruce Hews, has worked on homelessness and housing issues for the city for the past year after running a homeless shelter in the city.
He will be tasked with coordinating efforts by the city’s government and with other local service providers to address homelessness, which is growing statewide. It comes as the issue remains a top concern for city officials.
Hews steps into the role two weeks after the closure of a homeless encampment along the train tracks by the Penobscot River in Bangor, which left many residents with nowhere to go as the city’s homeless shelters operate near or at capacity.
The coordinator position, previously named the homelessness response manager, was created a year and a half ago.
Hews was hired internally from his position as a housing navigator with Bangor Public Health and Community Services.
That position was created in 2024 as part of a housing navigator and stabilization pilot program funded by a grant from the Maine State Housing Authority. The housing navigator job is now open, according to a posting on the city’s website.
City officials spoke highly of him, with public health and community services director Jennifer Gunderman calling him a leader in the area of homelessness during a City Council workshop Tuesday.
“He has built incredible relationships,” she said. “He has kept dozens of people housed just in the past year that he’s been in that position.”
City Councilor Michael Beck told the Bangor Daily News that Hews is “really well respected, especially by the unhoused community, where folks who have been at their lowest and said he’s saved them.”
Before joining the city staff, Hews served as manager of the Hope House, Bangor’s only low-barrier homeless shelter.
Beck said he hopes the coordinator position will be better utilized now in its second iteration, saying he felt Jena Jones, the previous homelessness response manager, “kind of got put in a position where she was having to do ad hoc case management and be in the weeds all the time” as opposed to working on higher-level strategies.
“To let [Hews] take all of his knowledge and apply it to a system-wide response, I think we’ll start seeing some improvements,” Beck said.
He added that he hoped Hews will be direct in telling the City Council what they need to do to address homelessness in the city.
“I hope he really kicks council around a little bit,” Beck said. “Tell us what we need to do. Don’t be afraid to ask.”
The salary range for the homelessness response coordinator position is between $29.14 to $39.12 per hour, according to a LinkedIn listing from the city.
