Books Revisited on Main Street
Photo: York County Shelter Programs
By Lee Burnett
The family emergency shelter in Sanford is staying open until at least July, thanks to new funding secured by York County Shelter Programs, according to the agency.
York County Shelter Programs had secured funding from Maine Housing to keep doors open until the end of June, according to agency consultant Barb Crider. More recently, a donor affiliated with the Maine Community Foundation has contributed $15,000, which will buy “some added weeks in July,” she said.
Maintaining operations at the 16-bed shelter for families with children has become the agency’s highest priority since May 2, when it announced a major suspension of services.
The family shelter “is not just a shelter. It’s support, coaching, mentoring. It would just be horrible if we lost the family shelter,” Crider said.
To support its continued operation, Crider has been fundraising in the business and philanthropic communities while also trying to stimulate dialogue on longer-term solutions among Maine legislators, municipal officials and agency leaders.
“What I’m trying to do is buy time, even a few weeks, so we can take a look at different funding models and revenue streams,” she said on Wednesday afternoon. She was encouraged by a phone call just minutes before from Kennebunk Savings Bank. “They’re very eager to help,” she said. She’s also been encouraged by expressions of verbal support from various quarters.
“I do think people want to help, want to know what they can do. We need to keep talking,” she said. “This isn’t one community’s problem … It’s an issue that doesn’t have an easy solution.”
York County Community Action Corp. has agreed to accept donations on behalf of shelter programs.
The link to donate is here: https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign_id=7N5Q23THBQK48
Some services have been taken over by allied agencies. York County government has agreed to fund the food pantry in Alfred through June at a minimum and for another year if the county budget is approved. The Brothers of Christian Instruction has assumed responsibility for the bakery on Shaker Hill in Alfred. Volunteer staffers are keeping open Books ReVisited bookstore in Sanford. Some services will be suspended for extended periods. That includes the emergency shelter in Alfred, which had been home to 37 adults. They have all been placed in alternate housing, Crider said.
The Layman’s Way Recovery Center in Alfred will close as scheduled at the end of June, according to York County Manager Greg Zinser. At its peak, the program served 24 clients, but the program has been winding down in the last six months. The last eight clients will have completed programs by the end of June, he said. The closure was prompted by the need to find new funding to equip the $39 million recovery and training center due to open next summer. The $1.4 million saved by suspending the program will provide needed furniture and other equipment for the facility, he said.
York County Shelter Programs has been downsizing its 70-member staff. Initially, 20 were laid off May 2. Staffing is now down to 23, according to Crider, and another eight to 10 will be laid off when Layman’s Way closes at the end of June, she said.
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