Bangor’s largest homeless encampment may not close at the end of the year as planned.
City staff are proposing delaying the closure of the encampment in the wooded area behind the Hope House Health and Living Center until Feb. 28, 2025, according to a Thursday memo from Bangor City Manager Debbie Laurie to city councilors.
City staff asked to delay the closure after hearing Penquis’ project to turn the former Pine Tree Inn into permanent supportive housing for people who are homeless isn’t going to be finished by the end of year as initially expected.
While the 41-unit development — named Theresa’s Place — isn’t large enough to house everyone still living in the encampment, Laurie said moving some people into the former inn would free up space in shelters and other housing units.
“We recognize that displacement of people who are unsheltered causes real harm, particularly when there aren’t viable options for coming indoors,” Laurie wrote in the memo, which was included in the agenda for Monday’s City Council workshop.
Bangor city councilors will discuss the request in a workshop on Monday.
The proposal would be a two-month delay to the city’s initial plan, which was announced in October, to close the encampment where roughly 70 people live in tents, vehicles and rudimentary shelters at the end of the year after moving everyone into some kind of housing. It’s indicative of the challenges the city has faced in securing permanent housing for everyone who has been living in the encampment.
The proposed delay also comes a week after city councilors Michael Beck and Joseph Leonard urged city staff to remove the deadline and instead wait for all residents to be successfully housed before closing the encampment.
Though the encampment has existed on the land — and grown in size — for years, the city decided to shutter it now due to a rise in illegal activity and violence in the area, according to Laurie.
Since the city announced it would close the camp, outreach workers have moved at least 15 people living there into permanent housing as of Nov. 26. Another three people moved into a shelter, two reconnected with family and six others left the encampment for other reasons, according to Jena Jones, Bangor’s homelessness response manager.
Despite the progress, Jones estimated 50 to 55 people still lived outside in the area as of Nov. 26.
Giving outreach workers more time to build trust with encampment residents and find housing for them also helps break the cycle of chronic homelessness that many face, Laurie said. In fact, Laurie called the area “perhaps the most entrenched encampment in the state.”
Laurie assured councilors that the plan to close the encampment after moving everyone living there into some kind of shelter hasn’t changed despite the proposed delay.
“This change in date is intended to provide a cushion and reprieve and it affirms the city’s commitment to ensure we are making the best choices that will result in the best possible outcomes for people who need support to get to their next right place and stabilize,” Laurie said.
Laurie could not be immediately reached by phone on Friday.
