Portland Department of Health and Human Services Director Kristen Dow updated the City Council Monday on the progress of the city’s Encampment Crisis Response Team (ECRT) in moving homeless individuals into housing from the city’s largest encampment along the Fore River Parkway Trail.
[RELATED: ‘Millsvilles’: The Maine Wire Visits Portland’s Drug-Infested Tent Cities]
In an Aug. 11 memo to Mayor Kate Snyder and the Portland City Council, Dow said that the number of tents citywide grew to 237 as of Aug. 10, up from 214 on July 17.
As of Aug. 11, the Fore River encampment accounted for 64 of those tents, with approximately 63 individuals residing in the camp — an increase of 18 tents and 13 individuals since the ECRT’s July update.
Dow said during the Aug. 14 City Council meeting, that since the Aug. 11 memo those numbers had fallen to 54 tents and 52 individuals at the Fore River encampment, and an overall number of 228 tents citywide.
There have been a total of 12 housing placements from the Fore River encampment, Dow said.
The ECRT is working with several community partners to transition the individuals staying at the Fore River encampment into the Homeless Services Center (HSC) and other housing accommodations before Sept. 6, when the city plans to clean out the encampment.
After Sept. 6, the ECRT will move its focus to the encampment at the Marginal Way Park and Ride Lot, a decision which the memo states was made on the basis of the size of the encampment, the number of calls for service received, and community impact.
“One thing I think is really important for us to discuss here with you all tonight, is there seems, from what I have seen, there seems to be a bit of misconception in the community that the work of the Encampment Crisis Response Team has in some way shape or form stopped the other work that is done in the community around outreach, around [inaudible] encampments, and that’s just simply not the case,” Portland DHHS Director Kristen Dow said at the Aug. 14 City Council meeting.
“I just think it’s important for our community to know, that I understand that we have a crisis on our hands in our city, and that is not something that we as city staff take lightly,” Dow said. “And we are trying to be mindful with this intensive effort at one encampment at a time, but to also know that our community providers are continuing to do work, the great work that they do out in the community.”
Any available beds at the HSC are being offered first to members of the Fore River encampment by the “Mobile Engagement Center,” which operates at the encampment between 9:30 and 11 a.m.
This effort has resulted in five successful placements in the HSC from the Fore River encampment.
If the HSC beds are not taken by individuals at the Fore River encampment by a certain time, they are then offered to individuals at the city’s other encampments.
Dow said that this has resulted in 33 referralls to the HSC from the city’s other encampments.
The group is offering a shuttle to the HSC, tours of the shelter, and has relaxed the HSC’s evening curfew by three hours in order to accommodate requests.
The “Case Conferencing Group” is a collection of nonprofits and local private and public organizations, consisting of The Opportunity Alliance, Preble Street, Spurwink, Common Space (Amistad), United Way Southern Maine, Maine State Housing Authority, HUD TA, and the City of Portland Public Health and Social Services.
The Case Conferencing Group is meeting twice a week with the ECRT, and has successfully placed eight individuals into the HSC, one into Elena’s Way Wellness Center, and two other individuals into other unspecified housing.
The ECRT provides daily dumpster service and portable restrooms at the Fore River encampment.
The porta-potties are pumped three times weekly, and are cleaned and restocked two times daily by city staff.
The city has installed a potable water supply at the encampment with the Maine-based Thirsty Turf Irrigation company.
Despite placing large sharps containers on site, Dow’s memo states that “used syringes continue to litter the area.”
Daily food delivery to the encampment occurs at the end of Frederic St., and the city is working to coordinated with United Way for volunteers to deliver food to the site.
The ECRT’s plan moving forward is to hold a weekly housing fair at the encampment — efforts to sign individuals up for housing at the encampment has resulted in 10 individuals being added to the Portland Housing Authority’s centralized wait list, six applying for public housing, three applying for Bridging Rental Assistance Program (BRAP), and six applying for the federal Shelter Plus Care (SPC) program.
City Councilor Andrew Zarro, who is a candidate for mayor in the city’s Nov. 7 election, commended Dow for working tirelessly on the homelessness crisis, but also voiced his concerns about the quickly approaching Sept. 6 deadline.
“Right now, I just, I’m afraid we’re gonna blink, and in three and a half weeks we’re gonna be looking at the possibility of breaking up an encampment again,” Zarro said. “And that’s not going to — we all know that’s not going to result in anything other than people forming another encampment elsewhere.”
“I know that’s on everyone’s mind in this room, I’m just going to name it. But if there’s anything you need from us, we’re here with you,” he said.
Gee – you would think they would have anticipated the need for more beds when they built the HSC. Oh well, shit happens and some people just have to suffer to keep the crisis alive. This proclamation that Dow’s team is working hard could be somewhat misleading. Working hard is NOT working smart. And even working smart is not the same as just getting the job done. Until some people are willing to stand up and say “We don’t know what else to do” and then open the floor to outside-the-box suggestions, WE aren’t working hard enough.
The crisis is the Biden and Mills administration allowance of said people to come unfettered with ZERO opportunities, ZERO housing and ZERO plan for any of it. It’s also blanket asylum, which is unConstitutional as well. Where are the ‘Conservative Republican’s’?