As winter arrives in Maine, the long-growing homeless camps in big cities are getting smaller. However, this doesn’t mean that people sleeping outside have found stable homes.
During the holidays, homelessness usually goes down temporarily because of what shelter managers call “natural supports.” This is when friends and family take in people without homes for a short time.
Henry Myer, the director of Portland’s homeless shelter, says, “We are nowhere near out of the woods.” Many people are not getting their own homes; instead, they end up in unstable situations.
After a year with more homelessness in the state, people in Portland are getting beds in shelters or warming centers. A new shelter for asylum seekers opened with 179 beds, explaining why there are 80 fewer tents in the city between Nov. 1 and this week.
In Waterville, at an encampment near the Two Cent Bridge, there are now fewer tents after a snowstorm. Someone on Facebook said they were living outside, but a friend took them in when the weather got worse.
Katie Spencer-White, the CEO of the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter, explains, “Folks take care of their own, and when it’s dangerously cold, nobody wants to see their friends and relatives suffer.” People often find temporary relief from the outdoors during extreme weather.
Sometimes, family and friends can’t house someone without a home all year round. This can be because of issues like mental illness or substance use disorder, according to Tyler Morrison, who manages Bangor’s homeless shelter.
If the friend or family member lives in public housing, it can also be a barrier. Public housing rules may prevent guests from staying for a long time, says Spencer-White.
“Families and friends will do that cost-benefit analysis,” she says. When it’s dangerously cold, the calculation changes, and people are more willing to help.
Even though homelessness becomes less visible in winter with warming centers and natural supports, advocates say it doesn’t mean the problem is going away. There’s a misconception that people might be moving to warmer places, but managers say that almost never happens.
“For a lot of these folks, their safety is in their routine,” says Myer. They have specific places to get food, stay warm, and sleep. They won’t just leave and go to a warmer place like Florida.
