For the past month and a half there has been a steady flow of residents and staff in and out of the Lewiston Armory all day, such as a rainy Wednesday afternoon June 11. The Central Avenue facility has served as an emergency shelter and is tentatively planning to close June 30. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

LEWISTON — Officials are planning for transitioning people out of an emergency homeless shelter as a rough deadline for closing the facility approaches.

With a planned closing date of June 30, those operating the emergency “wellness” shelter are attempting to find permanent housing or other accommodations for the nearly 60 individuals staying there during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The shelter, which opened April 22, has been funded by MaineHousing, which contracted with the Lewiston-based Community Concepts to run day-to-day operations.

Shawn Yardley, CEO of Community Concepts, said officials would like to have solid plans in place by early next week in order to give firm dates to both employees and those staying at the shelter. The shelter population has been hovering around its capacity of 60 beds.

No determination has been made on whether to do a “hard stop” on June 30, or a gradual transition, he said. Yardley said they will not accept any new guests after June 30, and the armory would only be available for “some part” of July for a transition period.

“We want to make sure there’s appropriate time for folks to transition to something more appropriate than back on the streets,” he said.

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He said some individuals will hopefully end up in permanent housing through Section 8 housing vouchers, and that several agencies are working together to organize transitions.

The city has also been in on the discussions from the beginning. The Lewiston Armory is run by the city’s Recreation Department, which has been largely closed during the pandemic.

“The shelter operators and its partners have been and will continue to work to find more permanent housing for those who have been using the temporary wellness shelter,” City Administrator Ed Barrett said.

He said the Lewiston Housing Authority, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the city’s General Assistance program are assisting Community Concepts in the transition.

The effort, which began at a time when case counts were still rising, was aimed at limiting the amount of close interactions and potential overcrowding at the city’s existing shelters. With a large gymnasium, the armory was able to host 60 beds separated by more than 6 feet, along with food service and access to showers.

While some shelters across the state have dealt with outbreaks of the coronavirus, the armory has reported only one confirmed case. Additional tests were negative.

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Yardley said other time and facility restrictions include when schools will be back in session. The shelter has been using shower facilities at Lewiston Middle School, while conducting “aggressive cleaning” there.

Despite being the second-largest city in Maine, Lewiston does not have a city-run shelter like those in Bangor and Portland.

Earlier this month, officials at MaineHousing said the state is working with homeless advocates on a plan to restructure the state’s network of shelters and emergency housing programs, due to health concerns at crowded shelters.

During a City Council meeting Tuesday, councilors also asked about the shelter winding down operations, and transitioning planning.

Deputy City Administrator Denis D’Auteuil, who has been leading the city’s pandemic response, said several meetings were taking place this week to come up with a transition plan.


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