PORTLAND, Maine — In response to the increasing number of individuals seeking asylum in Portland, a new 180-bed emergency shelter is set to open its doors Wednesday.
According to city officials, more than 1,600 people have arrived in Portland seeking asylum this year.
The newly established shelter will exclusively cater to those seeking asylum. Asylum seekers currently accommodated at Portland's Homeless Services Center (HSC) will be relocated, freeing up 120 beds at the HSC for the general homeless population.
Funded by a substantial $4.5 million grant from MaineHousing, the 20,000 square-foot facility is located within a former beverage distribution building on Riverside Industrial Parkway.
City authorities emphasize that the city has no plans to own the building. The city plans to manage the shelter for the initial 18 months. Subsequently, the daily operations will be transitioned to the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, the organization currently overseeing the Salvation Army/YMCA shelter on High Street.
"We're running a shelter right now, and we've had to learn on the fly because it's an emergency shelter. How you run an emergency shelter is very different than how you run a well-established structured shelter, so there's a learning curve that we've been doing now," Mufalo Chitam, executive director of the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, told NEWS CENTER Maine.
"When somebody can give you shelter and you don't have anything, I believe they will be happy because there is no difference from the current shelter they are in to the one they are going to other than it's a different structure," Chitam explained. "It just looks like a home; we try to make it a home as much as we can."
City officials will be responsible for placing individuals at the new shelter, which will primarily cater to single men and women asylum seekers.
The move is aimed at providing a more focused and tailored support system for those seeking refuge.