Upcoming Events
Belfast Planning Board Committee MeetingWednesday, April 30, 6pm
Location: City Hall Meeting Room, 1st Floor
The City Council has approved the ordinance to allow transitional housing at 23 Mill Lane. The MMHC is now able to return to the Planning Board to apply for a license to run a transitional housing program at Belfast United Methodist Church. The MMHC will have to show how it will meet all of the standards and requirements and that the lower level of Belfast United Methodist Church will be prepared for the purpose.
Belfast City Council Meeting
Date TBD, ,
Location: City Hall Meeting Room, 1st Floor
If needed, the MMHC will go back to the City Council for a license to run a transitional housing program at 23 Mill Lane. First, the Planning Board would have to approve the application, and work would be scheduled to prepare the building for this use.
The Why Behind the Events
Homelessness is not just a national problem. It is a real problem here in MidCoast Maine. Homelessness affects all of us, directly or indirectly.
The shortage of affordable housing here in the MidCoast has squeezed out many families who now experience homelessness. They are our friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers. Their children attend our schools.
Many families and youth double up with family or friends, couch surf, stay in motels not set up for families, or settle for substandard lodgings, often without utilities. Although domestic violence shelters serve some in need, there is currently no family or youth shelter in Waldo County.
The state Homeless Response Services Hub (Region 3: Waldo, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc Counties, plus Bath and Brunswick) has identified 113 MidCoast families with children staying in motels or shelters, in addition to 60 unaccompanied, unhoused youth.
In 2024, as of September, Belfast General Assistance had provided housing assistance to 219 people, which included 42 men, 114 women, and 63 children.
These statistics do not include families and youth who have not applied for assistance or have not been able to find housing or shelter. They remain uncounted.