Bangor will close Valley Avenue homeless encampment next week

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A homeless encampment on Valley Avenue in Bangor will close at the end of the day on April 11, and the 20 people who lived there will be placed into housing, City Manager Debbie Laurie said.

The milestone was the result of more than three months of coordinated efforts by more than 10 local and state agencies working together under the direction of a federal disaster relief team. That group worked to rapidly resettle vulnerable people in larger urban areas, including SeattleLos Angeles and San Diego.

A team from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, called the “technical assistance team”, was called by the US senator. Susan Collins will help Bangor tackle its growing homelessness crisis. The HUD team met with city officials for the first time on December 12. 15.

With the help and guidance of the HUD team, more than 40 people representing more than 10 state and local agencies joined together and coordinated their efforts with the single goal of getting people facing homelessness into housing, Laurie said.

Since mid-December, this group has worked daily to build rapport and trust with each person at Camp Valley Avenue and secure the documentation they need for housing, such as identification and housing vouchers, case management and medical assessments.

Once those needs are met, the team finds accommodations that fit each person’s individual needs and situations. Their focus has been to help people get permanent housing, but some people may be entering shelters or transitional housing, such as a boarding house.

One person has been moved into permanent housing, and the other has returned to a former job close to the family that will provide the housing, Laurie says.

As they move into apartments, people who lived in a wooded area are given yellow duct tape to mark things they don’t want and the city can take them away, Laurie said.

The focus of this first phase has been on the people living in the encampment on Valley Avenue, but once everyone is housed there and the area is cleaned up, the group will turn its attention to others who need housing assistance. This could include other camps, such as the one behind the House of Hope, or people living in shelters or in their vehicles or couch surfing.

Bangor will close Valley Avenue homeless encampment next week

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