BRUNSWICK

Tedford Housing has been quietly serving the homeless across 33 communities in the Mid-coast region since 1987. Now, belts may get a little tighter after a state bill that would have given the organization a boost in funding died in adjournment.

According to one of the bill’s cosponsors, Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, DBrunswick, the legislation was allowed to languish without a vote because it was assumed Gov. Paul LePage would simply veto it. Gerzofsky said that if the bill “died” upon adjournment of the Legislature, it at least means it was never defeated and can be taken up again.

“An Act to Help Stabilize Homeless Shelters in Maine” would have provided ongoing appropriations from the state’s General Fund to the tune of $3.5 million to the Maine State Housing Authority to increase funding for homeless shelters. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland.

Tedford’s portion would have been $40,000 annually, money that is dearly needed as funding from sources such as MaineCare are drying up, according to Tedford Housing Executive Director Craig Phillips. Phillips said that many single, homeless adults have lost MaineCare funding that would have helped pay the organization for case management funding — something crucial to their program.

According to Phillips, a large part of Tedford’s $1.2 million budget — about $140,000 — comes from private donations.

Phillips said the United Way also financially supports Tedford’s programs.

“We run two shelters here in Brunswick. Any given night we’re serving about 45 people,” he said.

However, Tedford also provides affordable, permanent housing.

“We really have moved from shelter and roofs and three squares a day to really helping people understand why they became homeless, and hopefully address those particular reasons and link people with resources,” Phillips said.

According to Phillips, Tedford also works with Brunswick, Morse and Mt. Ararat high schools aiding homeless students. He said 110 students were identified as being homeless in the past year.

“One of the things when we talk about families, it’s crucial to remember how consequential it is,” said Tedford President Craig McEwen. McEwen noted that “this traumatic experience of homelessness” leads to longterm impacts for health and school achievement, among other consequences.

According to Phillips, in the last six months, 106 families had to be turned away — that’s an average of just under 18 per month representing 140 adults and 198 children.

“There is a far greater demand out there that we don’t have the resources to meet,” Phillips said. “You have 16 beds and there are 20 people in any given day.

“We have people who have rental vouchers — Section 8- like vouchers in their hands, but there are no apartments to go to,” he continued. “So people are staying at the shelter longer, which means they’re showing up at the back door and we can’t get people in the front door.”

Phillips said that’s the growing need he sees in the community — families living month after month in garages, cars, barns, tents and campers. He is seeing people whose wages have them spending 50 percent or more on rent.

“The occupancy rate of apartments in this region is very high, so the rent goes up, but the wages aren’t going up commensurately and people living at the economic margin — a car breaks down, they can’t fix it, they can’t get to work, they lose income, they’re thrown out of their apartment,” Phillips said.

“Unfortunately, it may be a steady state with a low-wage economy with impoverished people and families working and vulnerable to any little thing that pushes them over the edge. Housing is often one of the first things to go.”

Phillips said that Maine’s tourist industry and seasonal economy are partially to blame as well.

“There are some folks who hear the grass is greener on the other side of the country, and they come here,” said Phillips, who clarified that although some people travel here, fully three-quarters of those they serve come from the Mid-coast.

McEwen said about a third of the people they see have had some kind of domestic upheaval. Sometimes that upheaval includes violence; sometimes that upheaval comes as a result of a parent with a medical or mental health disorder.

“I was surprised at the number of people that have a disability and a mental health or substance abuse issues or a medical disorder,” McEwen said. “Those three together can really create havoc, confusion, chaos in a family and children involved — trying to keep the children on a steady course.

“It becomes chaotic when you’re trying to balance all these things and the plates start tumbling and that’s where the shelters come in,” McEwen added. “You can kind of get things stabilized, organized a little bit and hopefully take care of one thing at a time.”

Tedford doesn’t stop at simply providing a bed for the night. They also have permanent living apartments where residents can stay and where Tedford case managers can continue to help.

Melissa Heffron, 34, said she was going through a separation with her husband and working full time to support her two sons but was unable to keep up with the bills and rent.

“From there, we went to my mother’s house — skipped around house to house, couch to couch, wherever we could land,” Heffron said. Feeling she couldn’t provide for her children any more, Heffron said she felt she had no choice but to give them up.

Talked out of giving up her sons, Heffron left her boys with her mother and spent two weeks getting help at St. Mary’s Healthy Systems in Auburn. Upon her release, Heffron began talking with the folks at Tedford Housing. That’s when Heffron met case manager Beverly McPhail.

“She got me into the shelter — the boys and I were finally able to have a stable place,” Heffron said.

It was difficult on her sons, then ages 5 and 7, but Heffron said, “They’re good boys though, they took it well.”

From the initial shelter on Federal Street in Brunswick, Heffron said she and her sons were able to move to a supportive housing unit at Evergreen Woods in Bath. Under the guidance of case manager Jodie Chalmers, Heffron was able to address the reasons why her and her family became homeless. With aid from Chalmers, Heffron can help manage meetings, medications and receive daily support.

“The thing about Melissa that I really enjoy about working with her is that she is not afraid to ask for help,” Chalmers said.

Trained as a certified nursing assistant, Heffron said she has always been the caregiver. Accepting care from others took some getting used to. It wasn’t always so easy, Heffron said.

However, taking the big step in asking for help may mean a brighter future for her family.