A Bangor nonprofit hasn’t given up its plan of building tiny homes for people who are homeless on the site of a former encampment despite not receiving millions in congressionally directed spending.
Because Dignity First, a local homelessness nonprofit, missed out on more than $4 million in federal funding, the organization also lost the right to lease a piece of undeveloped land from the city before anyone else, said Anna Phillips, Dignity First’s board president.
“That was going to be a big boost to help us get things started,” Phillips said. “There are a lot of people scrambling for money at this point because everything that normally would’ve come through was all cut.”
While this setback hasn’t made Dignity First give up its plan for a tiny home village, Phillips said the organization leaders are “reevaluating” — and will likely scale down — the original plan, which proposed building 60 24-by-12-foot tiny homes for $25 million.
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The idea is far from becoming a reality, but Dignity First’s plan would help address the region’s housing shortage and homelessness crisis, two things the city has struggled with for years. It would also breathe new life into an area that was once Bangor’s largest homeless encampment.
The organization is now looking to “start with a much smaller pilot project” and create the village in pieces, Phillips said. For example, three to five homes would be built at a time rather than 20.
“We want to dial it back so we can start with something as soon as possible instead of sitting and waiting and holding off on a larger project,” Phillips said. “It’s so desperately needed, not just for the unhoused population, but Bangor needs housing pretty badly.”
Major hurdles for the development remain. The nonprofit hasn’t leased the land from the city, doesn’t know what the scaled-down plan might cost, the land itself isn’t ready, and while Dignity First has reapplied for congressional funding, it’s unclear whether the federal government will grant it.
In the meantime, the nonprofit is collecting funding from other grants, but Phillips could not say how much the organization has gathered for the project.
The original village plan included an administrative building, large community centers and on-site services for residents with other challenges, such as mental health and substance use disorder.
The plan is modeled after a 51-acre development of 500 tiny homes in Austin, Texas, called Community First! Village, founded by the organization Mobile Loaves and Fishes. The village opened in 2015, but Phillips said it took the Texas organization a decade to simply find the land for the village.
Bangor city councilors agreed in October 2024 to offer Dignity First the opportunity to lease the land located behind the Hope House shelter once the homeless encampment there closed. For years, nearly 100 people lived in tents, vehicles and rudimentary shelters until the city closed it a few months ago.
Bangor officials are now figuring out how to clean the roughly 7 acres between Texas and Cleveland avenues, as encampment residents left behind hazardous waste, including used hypodermic needles and human waste.
David Warren, spokesperson for the city, did not return requests for comment regarding the future of the former encampment property.
