Affordable housing shortage increases risk of homelessness

Homelessness in Washington County has been growing since the recession began in 2008. A three‑year pilot program to prevent homelessness is just about to end, and the question for the many agencies and individuals working on the issue is how to move forward with limited or no funding. Washington County residents continue to struggle with high unemployment, low incomes and high rents or substandard housing, all contributing factors leading to a higher risk of homelessness.
In July 2009 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), using Recovery Act stimulus funds, created a three‑year pilot program called Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re‑housing (HPRP). In the fall of 2009, Washington Hancock Community Agency (WHCA) implemented the HPRP program for both Hancock and Washington counties. The program coordinator, Jack Kelling, says that the program has been "vitally important. Rural Maine has an invisible population of homeless." Most of the funding has ended, with all but a limited amount of case management continuing to October. Then the program will stop, unless additional funding comes through. "It's been a tough few months to make things happen without funds," he says, adding that WHCA is looking for ways to continue the program.
According to Kelling, during the three-year grant period WHCA helped about 375 people, of whom 125 were under 18, to either remain in their homes or find new homes. About half of those people were from Washington County. This figure doesn't begin to quantify the number of phone calls received from people needing help. Kelling notes that he might be able to help one or two people out of 12 who call. His particular program has specific requirements that have to be met. "If I can't prove that I can help them, I can only redirect." He explains, "This particular model is geared towards prevention -- minimum support in the shortest time to bridge someone to keep them from becoming homeless. It creates an opportunity and prevents a huge slew of other problems."

Rural homelessness
"Homelessness is a symptom of poverty and an extremely dangerous one," Kelling says. He came to the work at WHCA after nine and one‑half years in the military with a specialty in project management and logistics. He has used his planning skills in his new work. "A lot of folks live in this mire of chaos. It's a lot easier to prevent [homelessness] than to get them off the streets." But despite his background, the logistics of homeless prevention in the county's rural environment have been a challenge. "Folks in rural Maine have a difficult time, especially because a lot of programs created from above were for urban areas."
The homeless have many faces. A teenager may live on a friend's couch. Three families may live in one home. Kelling says, "They're not just living on the streets or doubled up, but they're also living in unsuitable housing -- no heat, no water, no electricity, houses falling in on themselves." He describes an "elderly gentleman" who was living in a house that "was literally falling in on him. He was able to camp out in one room." HPRP was able to connect Neighbors Helping Neighbors and others to help the man. Another face of the homeless is the innocent child affected by a parent or guardian's bad decision.

Affordable housing shortage
Washington County has a lack of emergency housing. Two shelters are in place, one run by The Next Step for women who have been victims of domestic violence and their children and the other for Passamaquoddy tribal members. It used to be that some motels would rent rooms for emergency housing, but this has become much less frequent. The county's affordability index for rents is at 0.68, the least affordable in the state. While the county's average two‑bedroom rent in 2010 was $806, the county's renter households had a median income of $21,904, meaning that they could afford to pay $548 per month for such a rental, or would need to earn $32,240 to afford the higher rent.
Combating the high rent with affordable housing options has been a challenge. For Section 8 housing, "Right now we are telling people that there's a one and one‑half year waiting list, but I'm pretty sure it's longer than that still." Kelling notes that Section 8 housing from Bangor to Portland has a waiting list of three to five years.
Long-term solutions, Kelling believes, will be built within the county's communities. "There are two things that I truly feel deeply about: one is the opportunity for employment; the other is that it's an opportunity for neighbors to look at each other honestly -- that we depend on each other and that we aren't doing very well right now." He adds, "The community has always been able to help, but it's becoming harder with budgeting problems. It's not going to get better before it gets worse." But, he notes, "The thing that's going to help small communities are the small communities themselves; they can make the biggest difference."
Helping with the effort of coordinating communities and service providers is the Washington County Food and Fuel Alliance. The organization will host a meeting about the issue later in the year. For more information visit <www.foodandfuel.org>. For more information about homelessness intervention, visit WHCA's website, <www.whcacap.org>.