Private Homes May Become Homeless Shelters as City Grapples With Migrants

Governor Janet Mills of Maine announces to the media that Robert Card, the suspect in two mass killings, was found dead on October 27, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. Earlier this year, Mills announced the opening of a new office to aid migrants coming to her state and aiding the local economy.

A Maine city is weighing an ordinance to accommodate a large influx of homeless people—the vast majority of them migrants—with multiple housing options, including private single-family homes.

The migrants, described by one Westbrook city official as "new Mainers" who receive between 90 and 95 percent of the city's welfare benefits, would be housed in private homes, churches and community centers under a proposed ordinance presented to city officials on Monday.

However, private residences and churches would not have to take in homeless individuals unless they expressed a desire to do so.

"What we can afford in this ordinance are shelters in single-family homes which are deemed to be [for] emergency shelter families, said Jennie Franceschi, Westbrook's director of planning and code enforcement, according to The Maine Wire.

"A church that has a room that they utilize for the purposes of baked bean suppers or educational or social needs could then take that room and make it into a shelter if the needs of the community necessitated it," she added.

Newsweek reached out to Franceschi and other Westbrook city officials via email for comment.

Harison Deah, director of general assistance, made the comment about migrants making up just about all of the "new Mainers" requiring housing assistance, The Maine Wire reported.

He told officials on April 9 that his office has had to instruct migrants on how to do relatively basic tasks when housed, like using a thermostat. Those receiving tax-sponsored benefits are also taught how not to anger fellow tenants and neighbors.

The average client is on general assistance for between one and two and a half years, Deah said.

Assistance would come out of the pockets of both statewide taxpayers and those in Westbrook, the latter of whom would be on the hook for approximately 30 percent of the costs.

"I do not believe the entire homeless shelter proposal is beneficial to the property taxpayers and residents of the city of Westbrook," resident Martin Malia said during a May 7 Planning Board meeting, according to The Maine Wire. "Last year, the property taxpayers were burdened with an 8.8 [percent] tax increase."

He also expressed concerns about migrants coming to the city to take advantage of a system paid for by citizens already there.

In January, Democratic Governor Janet Mills announced plans for an Office of New Americans that would be tasked with "making Maine a home of opportunity for all, by welcoming and supporting immigrants to strengthen Maine's workforce, enhance the vibrancy of Maine's communities, and build a strong and inclusive economy."

The plan was unveiled at a textile manufacturer in Westbrook.

"Everywhere you look across Maine, there are help wanted signs," Mills said at the time. "We need workers, and new Americans, who want to support themselves and their families, can be one important part of that solution."

She continued: "My administration will do what we can to ensure that every person can contribute to our economy and successfully enter and stay in our workforce. As we strengthen our economy by attracting talented people to work in Maine, may this office help us fully harness the contributions of new Americans who have chosen to make our state their home."

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