“We can get eight to 10 calls a day asking if we have a bed.”

Cecelia Hitte, housing navigator for Tedford Housing, paints me a picture of the often-underestimated needs of the region. While Tedford currently houses 12 individual adults (reduced from the original 16 to comply with COVID guidelines) and six families, it must turn away hundreds of other inquiries each year.

With its limited funds, Tedford could focus on investing in a drastic increase to its number of beds. I once asked myself why it hasn’t.

We could prioritize capacity. We could get considerably more community members under our roof. We could, but we would be sacrificing the most effective elements of our homeless prevention strategy.

Case management is the heart of the Tedford program. Case managers work one-on-one with clients to target their individual needs. They assist with overcoming obstacles, whatever they may be, that prevent a client from attaining permanent housing or income. “You’re going to have so many ups and downs,” says Joy Staples, attendant at Tedford’s adult shelter, of the clients she serves. “You could get denied an apartment. You could be denied disability. You might apply for 20 jobs and no one wants to hire you.”

Tedford’s case management program is not only available to those in emergency housing. First, former guests who are already permanently housed can continue to consult a case worker who will help them maintain their stable housing and avoid eviction. In this way, case management serves to prevent those who have already experienced homelessness from returning to it. Second, outreach clients who have never been housed in any Tedford facility, such as families at immediate risk of eviction, can also receive help from Tedford. This helps prevent homelessness before it occurs in the first place.

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Furthermore, it is common to fall through the cracks when it comes to qualifying for governmental assistance, which can be difficult to navigate alone. Adult shelter case manager Alicia Lussier has seen plenty of such cases and highlights for me the importance of case management with an anecdote: “If you make enough to not qualify for MaineCare, then you’re expected to pay for your insurance through your work,” she says. “Once any of them try to get out there and work—suddenly they make too much. They don’t qualify for help anymore. But they’re still stuck in a homeless shelter.”

Tedford’s supportive housing prevents returns to homelessness as well. These facilities provide affordable housing units staffed with case management on-site. The on-site factor can be crucial for clients who struggle with reaching out for help as well as those whose physical accessibility concerns make getting around more difficult. Supportive housing case manager Anthony Lamarr stresses the importance of Tedford’s supportive housing framework. “It’s tough enough to get into housing,” he says. “It’s very difficult to maintain it. It doesn’t take much to get evicted.” Support throughout the transition into permanent housing can be the difference between stability and regression.

Finally, the Warm Thy Neighbor program, through which Tedford provides emergency heating assistance to low-income community households, is yet another of the organization’s homelessness prevention initiatives.

However, in the interviews I conducted with Tedford team members as part of my summer fellow project, common themes manifested themselves, and I realized that there is still one more critical way in which Tedford reduces homelessness. When you’re facing homelessness, there is a good chance you have already internalized the stigma that surrounds it. This can give rise to an attitude of learned helplessness. Individualized attention, validation, and support can counteract this immobilizing psychological state. “You have to take the person where they’re at,” remarks adult shelter attendant Lisa Green. “Each individual is different, and what hoops they’re going to have to jump through are different.”

In short, Tedford combats homelessness by combatting hopelessness.

“We can get eight to 10 calls a day asking if we have a bed,” says Hitte. She continues, “We sometimes end up talking to the person for 20 minutes. One of the best things we can do, even if we don’t have a bed for them, is talk to them — give them the sense that somebody is listening.”

Emergency housing alone cannot reduce homelessness. It can only lessen the damage that has already been done. The purpose of Tedford’s holistic approach, of which emergency housing with no time limit is but one of several essential pieces, is to support each client throughout the entire process until they reach stability. In the words of Lamarr, “It’s not just about shelter. It’s about providing the overall circumference of services to move into housing and improve their lives.”

Even with this in mind, Tedford is nonetheless currently undertaking an increase in capacity. Once the new facility at Cook’s Corner is constructed, Tedford will accommodate 24 individual adults and 10 families. The project will expand not only emergency housing, but also Tedford’s key services. It’s a glimpse into a promising future for a small but mighty powerhouse of an organization whose positive influence is already woven deeply into our community.

Izabella Tucci is a Maine Community Fellow and rising senior at Bowdoin College. Giving Voice is a weekly collaboration among four local non-profit service agencies to share information and stories about their work in the community.

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