The City of Portland has an agreement with nonprofit Commonspace to run an overnight warming shelter at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church on Congress Street.
MaineHousing had no offers to run the space and with winter setting in Commonspace took on the role.
Commonspace is a peer support agency that assists the unhoused and people struggling with issues.
Executive Director Brian Townsend said the warming shelter has been open 7 nights so far, serving between 69 and 85 unhoused residents with complicated substance use disorders and mental health issues.
"We're doing this because we love and care about the folks outside and, like everyone else, we want to be supportive but not overextend or lend our support in a way that causes harm. So that's why we're coming into this in a way that's thoughtful and sustainable," Townsend said.
Petitions from two formerly unhoused individuals propose changing the city's policy to open the shelter when it's below 32 degrees outside, not 15 degrees, and when there's 10 inches of snow or freezing rain. One petition said the shelter should be open 24 hours a day in the winter.
Townsend said MaineHousing grants of about $230,000 are not enough to cover staff, hot meals and supplies every day this winter; he expects to be able to open about 35 nights. Townsend said the shelter has been open 5 additional nights based on the collective decision of church officials and Townsend. He said the decision is made 48 hours prior to opening the shelter for a night to get the word out to unhoused residents.
Commonspace, Townsend said, is mindful of the community the church shelter is in and the need to keep the area clean and safe. Portland High School abuts the church. For these reasons, Townsend said he will not use volunteers, only seasoned staff experienced with complicated behavioral health issues.
Portland City Councilor Kate Sykes said she believes the government should not outsource the shelter.
"That's a morally bankrupt option. It shouldn't be that someone has to create a positive bottom line, whether for profit or nonprofit, to help people. That's our job," she said.
Sykes said, however, efforts by the city to find an organization to operate a day warming center have received no inquiries.
In the meantime, Sykes said she would like to propose that the City Council enact an emergency order to expand the bed count at the Homeless Services Center by 50 to accommodate more unhoused residents like it did last year.
Townsend said that would help. He said several clients tried to get into the Homeless Services Center in the past few weeks and were told there was no room.
He said any shelter of a larger scale needs a bigger group of people working together and more resources than Commonspace can provide.
You can donate to Commonspace here.
