affordable housing | Tedford Housing

Giving Voice: Affordable housing, causes of homelessness in Maine

December 23, 2020 By Blaine Flanders Leave a Comment

This article was published in the Times Record on 12/11/2020, and written by Blaine Flanders, Community & Donor Relations Coordinator at Tedford Housing. You can read the article on the Times Record here.

One common flaw throughout Maine is the lack of affordable housing. This gap in housing causes more people to become at risk of experiencing homelessness. Extremely low-income households, including families and individuals, struggle enough to make ends meet, and more often than not it is just not enough income to support paying their rent. Accumulating debt is likely, now more than ever, and unavoidable for some as we head into the colder months.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, 27% of all renting households in Maine are extremely low-income. Extremely low-income households are at or fall below the poverty line, or are below 30% of the area median income. The lack of affordable housing across the state and in Mid-Coast Maine has created an indefinite need for housing. A lack of affordable housing means that Tedford guests typically stay longer at emergency shelters because it is harder to find a permanent place to live. As guests stay for longer periods of time at the emergency shelters, other individuals and families are turned away due to lack of vacant beds and units. There is a chain reaction caused by the lack of affordable housing in the community. Tedford Housing turned away 266 individual adults and 133 family members in the 2020 fiscal year alone.

These extremely low-income households are often the households that have several barriers in the process to securing permanent housing, and are at the highest risk of experiencing homelessness. Some of the barriers Tedford Housing’s clients face are past convictions, mental health problems, poor or no credit, and the inability to secure a job with a steady income. At Tedford Housing, our guests and clients all receive case management services to help break down the barriers faced when finding a permanent place to live. Case management is at the core of all Tedford Housing services. From emergency shelter, supportive housing, and homeless prevention and outreach services, a case manager is actively engaged and involved in that client’s success. Tedford’s case managers also work as housing navigators to help find the most suitable and affordable place to live for those clients who may have trouble accessing resources and housing vouchers, working with landlords and completing a housing search on their own.

Other factors that contribute to the number of people experiencing homelessness in Maine are home heating expenses and the percentage of household income spent on housing costs. Most low-income households are spending over half of their income on rent every month, leaving room for little else, not to mention emergency spending on medical bills or heating costs. Some households do not have money to spend on heat during the long winters here in Maine. When a child is cold, what is a parent to do? Many community programs, such as the Tedford Housing’s Warm Thy Neighbor program, provide emergency heating bill assistance to those in the community who qualify based on income and who may be at risk of homelessness. Other programs include the Maine Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Cumberland County’s Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP).

As more households across Maine are spending an increased amount of their income on housing, leaving little for other expenses, an increasing percentage of those households are at greater risk of experiencing homelessness. This could create more stress on emergency shelters and other supportive services across the state. Tedford Housing and other community organizations are already expecting an increase of housing and service requests within the coming months as eviction moratoriums end and winter begins. If you want to make a difference in your community, support your local non-profit housing and homelessness organizations. You can also advocate for change through your local legislator or town council. The only way to stop this problem is to increase the number of affordable housing units in the state of Maine, and those at risk of homelessness need your help.

—

Giving Voice is a weekly collaboration among four local non-profit service agencies to share information and stories about their work in the community.

Curtis Memorial Library to Host Community Conversations on Affordable Housing

October 11, 2018 By Rota Knott Leave a Comment

Curtis Memorial Library, located at 23 Pleasant Street in Brunswick, will be hosting a series of three community conversations on the topic of affordable housing this fall. Each session will feature expert speakers followed by audience Q&A.

With rising home costs and increase of rental rates – and resulting cost burden to low and middle-income families in the area – a group of community members and librarians planned this series to bring attention to this need in our local area and to provide information and ideas about steps we can take to address it. The forums will offer up-to-date information on needs, trends and issues, how the community and local organizations are addressing needs and issues, and what neighbors can do to support affordable housing for all.

Housing Vulnerability & Homelessness, Thursday, October 18, 6:00 – 7:30 pm (Facebook event page)

This session will explore financial fragility and the many reasons why people lose their housing and will feature presentations from James Myall, a policy analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy; Cullen Ryan, executive director of Community Housing of Maine and chair of the Statewide Homelessness Council; and Giff Jamison, director of operations at Tedford Housing.

The Local Landscape, Tuesday, October 30, 6:00-7:30 pm (Facebook event page)

Join us to learn about the current and projected landscape of affordable housing in local and regional housing markets. Speakers will include John Hodge, executive director of the Brunswick and Topsham Housing Authority; Kevin Bunker, founding principal at Developers Collaborative and Tedford Housing board member; and Jane Millett, Brunswick Town Councilor and local realtor.

Promising Practices, Thursday, November 29, 6:00-7:30 pm (Facebook event page)

Six local and statewide leaders will explore innovative approaches and funding opportunities that address housing affordability. Panelists include Greg Payne, director or Maine Affordable Housing Coalition; Matt Panfil, director of the Brunswick Department of Planning and Development; Carol Eyerman, assistant planner of the Topsham Department of Planning and Development; Bill Floyd, executive director of Genesis Community Loan Fund; Debora Keller, executive director of Bath Housing; and Mark Primeau, executive director of Habitat for Humanity/7 Rivers Maine.

The forums will be recorded and, after the event, will be available for viewing on TV3 Brunswick, the TV3 website, and the Curtis Memorial Library website.

Download the flyer for the series (PDF)

For more information call 207-725-5242, or visit www.curtislibrary.com/housing.

Press Release: Tedford Housing Honors Community Members and Looks at Housing and Homelessness in Midcoast Maine at Annual Meeting and Awards Event

June 29, 2016 By Rota Knott Leave a Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jennifer Iacovelli, jennifer@tedfordhousing.org. 207-729-1161, ext. #101

BRUNSWICK, Maine (June 23, 2016) – Tedford Housing, a nonprofit agency whose mission is to find lasting solutions to the challenges of homelessness, held its annual meeting and awards event on June 16^th at Moulton Union, Bowdoin College. Honorees included Kay Wilson, Sally Loving, Kelly Bumiller, Dawn Flagg, Tammy Cutchen and Craig McEwen. Guest speakers included Greg Payne of Maine Affordable Housing Coalition and Frank O’Hara of Planning Decisions, who talked about the state of housing and homelessness in the Midcoast Maine region.

Outgoing board president, Craig McEwen, opened the meeting and shared some of the successes and activity from the past year for Tedford Housing.

“We now think of Tedford as a resource center for individuals and families facing housing challenges and myriad other difficulties – a resource center which happens to have some shelter beds and apartments for permanent housing,” Craig stated in his opening remarks. “Tedford is a center of navigation guiding over 750 people a year to the particular resources they need to get back on track. Tedford’s evolution reflects national trends and best practices in working on ending homelessness.”

Incoming board president, John Carson, closed the meeting reflecting on the challenges that speakers Greg Payne and Frank O’Hara presented with the prevalence of homelessness and lack of affordable housing in the Midcoast.

“The questions of how to offer appropriate sheltering and homeless prevention services are, indeed, important conversations for Tedford and the communities in which we work,” John noted in his remarks. “Especially as we approach our 30th anniversary of service to the mid-coast and our communities.”

The following awards were handed out at the event:

The Tedford Home Award – given annually to one or more organizations who have worked closely with Tedford Housing to help meet its mission of ending homelessness – was awarded to Kelly Bumiller, a clinician at Tri-County Mental Health Services; Dawn Flagg, family educator at Midcoast Maine Community Action; and Tammy Cutchen, an Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine parent.

The Scooty Brownell Award – given annually to those who have a history of supporting Tedford Housing in more than one way including financial, volunteering, advocacy or leadership – was awarded to Craig McEwen, Daniel B. Fayerweather Professor of Political Economy and Sociology Emeritus.

The Margit Cook Award – given annually to one or more persons who demonstrate exemplary volunteer service to Tedford Housing, have served in a formal volunteer capacity for at least five years and are recommended by Tedford Housing staff as persons of great integrity and outstanding volunteer service – was awarded to Sally Loving, a self-employed communications consultant for advocacy groups in Washington, DC and New York.

Staff recognition

In addition, Kay Wilson was recognized for 10 years of employment with Tedford Housing. Kay began working for Tedford Housing as a per diem shelter attendant and is now the adult shelter manager.

Photos from the event can be found on Tedford Housing’s Facebook page.

###

Tedford Housing works together with people in their communities to find lasting solutions to the challenges of homelessness. We provide shelter, housing, and services that empower adults, children and families in need. For more information, call 207-729-1161.