Editor’s Note: The following story is the last installment in a series of articles that deals with the issue of homelessness in the Biddeford-Saco area.

Imagine this. You have no family in the area. Your monthly rent just increased by more than 45 percent, and your paycheck no longer covers your basic needs. You have to leave your apartment. There are no available apartments in your price range. Where do you go? Who do you call?

Now ponder this. How many paychecks away are you from finding yourself without housing, food and medicine?

According to experts, service providers and government officials, a very large segment of the homeless population can be found just beneath the surface of public scrutiny. They work full-time, pay taxes and follow the laws, but they are either living in their cars or “couch surfing,” staying with friends for a few days at a time.

“I never thought I would be here,” says Alex, a 31-year-old man who grew up in Biddeford and works in the service industry. “I’m trying to save up some money so I can get the hell out of here and go down south. I grew up here. I went to school here, and now I can’t afford to live here. I guess it’s nice that Biddeford is getting better, but I know lots of people who can’t enjoy the change.”

Amy is a single mother now living in seasonal rental unit in Old Orchard Beach. She has a three-year-old daughter. She relies on public transportation to get back and forth from her job in Biddeford, where she earns roughly $18 per hour. She needs to vacate her seasonal rental by May 1.

“Daycare is really expensive,” she says. “I’m having a hard time finding an apartment for less than $1,500 a month, including heat and electricity. I have no idea where I am going to go after May 1.”

Stories like these are becoming increasingly familiar, especially in southern Maine, where the demand for housing and the cost of living has skyrocketed, far outpacing area wages.

And then, there are other issues that need to be considered when trying to solve the problems of homelessness. Mental health and substance abuse issues play pivotal roles for many of those who are living without a home.

“I’m not an expert of any kind, but mental health is a big factor for many of the people we serve,” said Vassie Fowler, executive director of the Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Resource Center in Biddeford. “Substance abuse is also common. A lot of the people we serve are feeling intense pain. It’s pain that is there every minute of every hour of every day. So, people use alcohol or drugs to self-medicate. To alleviate the constant pain and anxiety.”

But getting services or finding resources for the homeless is a daunting task, especially so when you are living on the streets without a fixed address.

Sweetser, headquartered in Saco, is one of Maine’s largest mental health service providers, and they are having a hard time trying to keep pace with the surging demand for services for both housed and unhoused people.

“Right now, we have a waiting list of approximately 2,000 individuals across the state,” said Justin Chenette, a spokesperson for Sweetser. “We currently serve approximately 4,000 people in York County alone. There is a huge need out there, but we are at a critical moment because we are experiencing the same staffing shortages that can be found elsewhere.”

Sweetser offers several different resources for those who are struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse issues, Chenette said, adding that there is no real hard data to compare services between the housed and unhoused.

“We don’t turn anyone away,” Chenette said, adding that Sweetser offers a mobile crisis unit that will “go to” wherever a client is staying. Sweetser also offers a 24/7 “warm line” that connects individuals struggling with substance abuse or mental health concerns to trained peer coordinators for emotional support.

Fowler says her agency does its best to connect people with resources, but there are long wait times. “We help folks apply for Medicaid and other benefits, but it’s still a struggle,” she said. “If someone is in immediate crisis, we do our best to get them evaluated and treated at the hospital, but there are limits to what hospitals can provide in terms of available beds or treatment options.”

According to Danielle M. Loring, Director of Intensive Services/Emergency Department Crisis for MaineHealth, which includes Southern Maine Healthcare, roughly 50 percent of behavioral health patients seek voluntary services while the remaining 50 percent of patients are being brought to the emergency room by paramedics or police following a suicide attempt, substance use intoxication, acute aggression or acute psychosis.

Although Loring says the hospital does not track patients by housing status, she did say that the number of emergency room patients without secure housing has grown significantly over the past few years, especially during the height of the Covid pandemic.

“A considerable volume of unhoused patients are now seeking care in emergency rooms to access a full range of care, including inpatient psychiatric or medical hospitalization; in an effort to have their basic needs met, including food and shelter,” Loring said.

The increasing unhoused population in Maine has a significant systemic impact from a foundational level, with no greater attention to compounding this growing public health concern said Loring.

“Families and children at risk of losing their housing or unhoused, suffer considerable impacts to their education, careers and medical/behavioral health treatment resulting from the unstable and often unsafe living conditions they must contend with in order to survive,” she said.

A growing problem for Maine and York County

Although all cities and towns in Maine are required to offer general assistance (GA) programs, those funds are often exhausted before the budget year ends. The state provides 70 percent of the funding for those programs, the rest is shouldered by municipal taxpayers.

At the county level, quasi-government agencies, such as the Biddeford Housing Authority and the York County Community Action Corps, are doing their best to offer solutions for an ever-growing problem.

“It’s no longer just about the people you see living on the streets,” Fowler said. “An even bigger problem is the growing number of people who are right on the edge of becoming homeless because of the cost of housing, both rentals and home ownership.”

Two years ago, several organizations came together to help reduce and ultimately end homelessness in York County.  Part of a MaineHousing statewide initiative, the Homeless Response Service Hub Coalition was created and includes York County Community Action Corp, York County Shelter Programs, Caring Unlimited, Seeds of Hope, the Biddeford and Sanford Housing Authorities and several other non-profit organizations.

According to Carter Friend, executive director of the York County Community Action Corps (YCCAC), the Hub is a “coordinated effort to restructure how organizations respond to the growing number of unhoused people.”

In 2022, there were nearly 2,100 people reported experiencing homelessness in York and Cumberland Counties, according to Abigail Smallwood, coordinator of the Hub program, though she said the actual number is likely much higher because of the challenges in collecting real-time data.

YCCAC provides several services for unhoused individuals and families, including access to health care, childcare and a team of social workers who help unhoused individuals fill out housing applications and identify local housing resources. But that agency is also trying to keep up with a growing demand for services, Smallwood said.

At the state level, there are also challenges to helping people who find themselves homeless or soon-to-be homeless.

Jackie Farwell, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, said the state offers several programs to assist those without housing, including MaineCare, which provides comprehensive care management to qualified individuals and the Bridging Rental Assistance Program (BRAP), a 24-month rental assistance program designed to assist people with securing transitional housing and serving those with serious mental illness or substance use disorder.

The BRAP program serves individuals for 24 months as a bridge between homelessness and more permanent housing options, such as Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, or alternative housing placement.

And then there is the PATH (Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness) program, which is designed to support the outreach, engagement and delivery of services to eligible persons who are homeless and have serious mental illnesses and/or co-occurring substance use disorders.

A double standard?

It’s relatively easy to find social media commentary that decries the use of taxpayer funds to support immigrants and asylum seekers while there are not enough resources to provide housing for long-term residents and U.S. citizens.

State officials, however, say that anyone seeking assistance much show documentation in order to be eligible for state programs and services. Thus, illegal immigrants do not qualify for state services and benefits but may seek housing in shelters.

Asylum seekers must also provide documentation in order to receive services and benefits at the state and federal level.  According to Farwell, there are three new overnight warming shelters in Portland, with a total of about 120 beds, that primarily serve asylum seeking individuals and families through April 30.

Additionally, the state provides hotel rooms for dozens more asylum-seeking households unable to access emergency shelters through April 30.

Since the summer of 2022, using funds authorized by the Legislature, the Asylum Seeker Transitional Housing Program in Saco has successfully assisted more than 115 families, made up of more than 400 individuals, with housing and daily services provided by Catholic Charities of Maine, including cultural orientation, transportation, school enrollment and connections with health care providers and adult education classes.

Farwell said DHHS has also provided more than $15 million to 16 immigrant-led community-based organizations to provide public health, case management, and social service supports to asylum-seekers, using grant funds from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State Rep. Marc Malon (D-Biddeford) is serving his first term in the Legislature and said it is important to note that programs and services for both asylum seekers and long-term residents are designed to address the “unique needs” of each group.

“I think we should avoid falling into the pit of a false choice,” Malon said. “The state is trying to effectively meet the demands of all people in Maine, especially those who are in the unfortunate position of being unhoused.”

Malon said asylum seekers have unique needs and challenges, including language barriers and the inability to gain employment because of federal labor restrictions.

 “In my mind, there is no question that our federal immigration system is broken,” he said. “I mean really, no one is coming to Maine just to sleep a few months in the Expo Center.”

Asked if the state should do more to address the growing housing crisis, Malon did not hesitate.

“We absolutely must do more, starting with expanding the supply of housing of all types,” he said. “This is a statewide problem and it’s going to require statewide action.”

The lack of affordable housing presents a serious challenge in workforce housing. For example, a hospital needs janitors in order to function, but area housing costs exceed those wages. It is the same story for beginning teachers, new police officers and hospitality jobs.

“Workers need affordable housing,” Malon said. “If they can’t afford to live here or to buy a home here, then we are going to be hurt by labor shortages and supply disruptions. There are no easy answers, and this issue affects all of us.”

Editor’s note: The names of the unhoused individuals interviewed for this story have been changed to protect their anonymity.

Randy Seaver can be contacted at [email protected].