Resident Joanne Goodreau said she’s nervous about the future.
Photo: Lee Burnett
By Lee Burnett
York County Shelter Programs laid off 20 of its 70 employees Thursday and announced a major suspension of its anti-poverty operations.
The agency is working with allied agencies to find alternative housing for residents of its emergency shelters in Sanford and Alfred. Partner agencies include York County Community Action Corp., Caring Unlimited, Sanford Housing Authority, and United Way of Southern Maine.
It is still unclear what programs will remain. In addition to emergency shelters, the agency runs a meals program at St. George Episcopal Church in Sanford, a food distribution program and bakery in Alfred, and a used bookstore in Sanford. It also manages 130 units of housing and provides mental health and substance abuse counseling and a job training program.
“This has been a gut-wrenching decision for our volunteer board of directors, many of whom have been actively supporting the programs of YCS,” Kelli Deveaux, a York County Shelter Programs board member, explained in a press release.
Resident Joanne Goodreau, 62, formerly of Sanford, said on Friday that she and 36 other residents of the shelter in Alfred have been told they have until noon next Friday to move out.
“I’m a little nervous about where do we go what do we do? Not so much me. We have elderly here. Kids 18, 19 still going to school. I’m really worried about the elderly and sick, people in wheelchairs and walkers. Where are they going to go?”
Goodreau, who formerly worked in retail, said she is calling friends. She has no income, though she has an appointment with Social Security. She said she feels jealous toward others who are getting help.
“What about us? I don’t blame any one person or government agency for the housing mess we have. But sometimes we feel left out,” she said. “I don’t believe the government should do everything for everybody, but we are their people.”
The shutdown was brought on by chronic under-funding of services, according to the agency.
“Over the past few years, YCSP has been trying to raise the alarm level about the lack of funding and the impact this has had on homelessness shelters and services,” according to Deveaux. She said homeless shelters across the state received on average $7 per night per resident to cover operating costs of $102 per night, forcing agencies into a constant funding scramble. The agency’s $5 million budget ran deeper into the red each year.
“With growing expenses, debt, and a projected inability to continue to meet payroll and operating expenses, York County Shelter Programs came to the grim realization that it must effectuate closing dates,” according to Deveaux.
“Despite our collective efforts, and the gracious support of many donors, volunteers and partners in York County, the challenges faced by the organization have become insurmountable,” Deveaux wrote. “We would like to acknowledge the good that York County Shelter Programs accomplished throughout its history; the current outcome should not diminish those results for the many people the organization worked with, whose lives have been changed for the better.”
For the past five years, the agency has been run by Megan Gean Gendron, the daughter of agency founder and longtime director Don Gean. Gendron stepped down in early April and was succeeded by Barbara Crider, the longtime executive director of York County Community Action.
The agency called on advocates, stakeholders and elected officials to respond to the crisis by developing a long-term, sustainable plan for York County residents facing homelessness.
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