Winter is coming, and people all across Maine are rightly concerned about the number of unhoused people in our communities. Much of the conversation centers on housing, shelter beds, and warming centers. The truth is, there are far too few affordable rental units, and the demand for safe emergency housing far exceeds demand for it. That’s why the focus also needs to be on preventing homelessness.
Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter & Services (MMHSS) offers two of the most successful prevention programs in the state: the diversion program and the rapid rehousing program.
MMHSS finds that people often contact the shelter just before they become homeless. They frequently have unpaid bills, owe back rent, or have other issues that have led to a breakdown in their relationship with their landlord and the stark reality of eviction.
Through the diversion program, MMHSS is able to step into this space and has prevented hundreds of households from losing their existing housing. MMHSS staff is able to quickly assemble funding to make necessary payments for rent or utility bills, make essential repairs to cars to keep people employed, and speak with landlords to address other issues they may have led to eviction.
The staff also assist tenants connect to other resources like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits as well as work on budgeting and setting financial goals in order to promote long-term self-sufficiency. On top of that, staff support landlords through positive communication and conflict resolution.
The rapid rehousing program offers similar benefits to people who have just become homeless. Using proven strategies like landlord engagement, conflict resolution, and small amounts of funding for deposits, the clients involved in this program have shorter periods of homelessness, which lessens the trauma and physical harm of being unhoused.
Homelessness is both an individual and a community problem. It requires a range of strategies and interventions tailored to meet the needs of a range of different households. MMHSS has helped dozens and dozens of families, children, seniors, and veterans across Kennebec County and the state stay housed or get back into housing as fast as humanly possible.
Together, MMHSS is helping end homelessness one household, one person, one child at a time.
