More than 100 people turned out in Brunswick Thursday to open a new emergency shelter for adults and families in the midcoast region.
The new shelter, run by the non-profit service provider Tedford Housing, can accommodate 24 adults and 10 families at a time. It combines two of Tedford's existing shelters into one building and will increase existing capacity by about 60%.
The new shelter is a small step toward meeting higher demand for emergency housing services in the community, Tedford officials said. Last year, the non-profit was forced to turn away more than 350 adults and 170 families alone.
"It does not need to be this way. We can do better," Tedford Housing Executive Director Andrew Lardie said at Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony, in which students from Brunswick High School attended. "You all... deserve a future where homelessness is rare, brief and never repeated in a life."
Tedford has made multiple attempts at building a new shelter over the last ten years. The $9 million project was paid for with federal pandemic and MaineHousing funds, along with the MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital/Lincoln County Health Improvement Fund and donations from more than 500 people.
Dan Brennan, executive director of MaineHousing, said efforts like these take on new importance as federal support for the state's homelessness initiatives is in question.
"I know that whatever the outcome of the politics of the day, this facility will be here to help those in need — tomorrow and for generations to come," he said.
With the new building, Tedford is also moving administrative and case management services under one roof, so shelter residents can receive housing navigation and other support in one place.
Residents will move into the new shelter next month.
