PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Since 1984, Homeless Services of Aroostook has operated the Sister Mary O’ Donnell Emergency Shelter at 745 Central Drive in Presque Isle, serving between 100 and 220 adults and children each year.
But administrators of the only homeless shelter for the general public in Aroostook County now are searching for a new building in Presque Isle to expand their services and provide a more home-like atmosphere.
The two-story building that currently houses the homeless shelter used to be the church for Presque Isle’s former missile base in the 1940s, according to Stephen Eyler, who has been executive director for seven years. The shelter is cramped with 11 rooms that house 43 beds total. Also, only two of those rooms are on the first floor, which has caused the shelter to turn down some people who have physical challenges if those two rooms are already being used.
“The building we have right now has no elevator, so we’re looking for a building with just one level so that we won’t have to turn people away if they have physical challenges and need a ground-level room,” Eyler said Friday.
Although the building, which Homeless Services of Aroostook leases from Northern Maine Community College, is sturdy, maintenance issues have come up due to its age. More importantly, Eyler noted, the shelter is small and only has one door for residents to enter and exit, which can diminish the feeling of safety for individuals who have recently left a domestic violence situation.
Due to insurance and liability issues, residents cannot use the shelter’s kitchen to cook meals for their families. Eyler said that once he and staff can find a building, he wants to design an open layout that allows families to cook for themselves and maintain family bonds.
“If you have a family that has been in their own place for a long time and then they have to give up their apartment or house and come here, that family dynamic is already in place,” Eyler said. “Often the mother has been the one cooking meals for the family, but we can’t allow that here. We want the new building to allow them to cook meals and make them feel more at home.”
Expenses related to maintaining the shelter and its transitional housing programs, mean that Homeless Services of Aroostook does not have enough funds to pay for another building on its own. That’s why Eyler and his staff hope that an individual in Presque Isle will donate a building, which would serve as a tax deduction for that person.
After the organization finds a building, Homeless Services of Aroostook will launch a capital campaign that will include applying for grants and asking community organizations and individuals to donate toward the costs of renovating the structure. Eyler noted that NMCC’s building construction technology program as well as area church members have committed to volunteering for the renovation, but they need to find the right building first in order to start that process.
“We had been hoping to find a place by now, but as of right now the search continues,” Eyler said. “We’ve looked at probably a dozen places already, but we haven’t found a building that would meet all of our needs.”
Once Homeless Services of Aroostook has a new building, Eyler also wants to include a night shelter area, which will be located in the same building as the family shelter but separated by a wall and only available to those who don’t qualify for shelter residence but need a place to go for the night.
With a new location, one of Eyler’s goals is to address the three main reasons why people often seek out homeless shelters: loss of employment, which leaves them unable to obtain affordable housing and their own transportation. He said that many residents of the homeless shelter work two part-time jobs in order to support themselves and their families and save enough money to afford their own apartment.
Due to privacy and confidentiality regulations, residents could not be interviewed for this article.
But Eyler said that having multiple jobs in a rural area where businesses are often spread out over great distances can create challenges for homeless residents who do not own a vehicle. Eyler said that even though NMCC has been gracious in letting residents use available computers at their nearby campus library, college still has to serve students first. The next closest computers are at the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library on Second Street in Presque Isle.
“People in shelters need access to computers to fill out applications for jobs and other services that could be beneficial to them,” Eyler said. “NMCC is a convenient walk from here, but it’s a much longer walk to Second Street. What happens at the college is that there often are not enough resources for everybody” and students get priority on the computers.
Though the future of where the shelter will be located is still uncertain, Eyler remains confident that he and his staff will find a building that can serve the needs of their population and provide a much more welcoming, family-oriented environment than what they can currently give in a smaller space.
“In the last seven years that I’ve been here, we’ve helped over 1,000 people just in Aroostook County and served over 140,000 meals in our kitchen, and 200 children called this shelter home. Two-thirds of the people we serve are native to Aroostook County,” Eyler said. “This process has taught us a lot about patience, but we’re still excited at the possibility of a new location and expanding our role in the community.”
Anyone who wishes to inquire about a possible building or financial contribution can contact Eyler at (207) 764-5114 or director@aroostookhomeless.org.
