AUBURN — She says her name is Mary and she’s fallen on hard times.

For a long stretch of Wednesday afternoon, the 28-year-old stood in the bitter cold on Court Street, near Union Street bypass. She held a cardboard sign imploring passers-by for donations — anything they could give.

“I just lost my job, my car and my apartment,” Mary said. “I’m just doing what I can to survive.”

She did not want to provide her last name or say too much about where she had been living. She was staying at a Lewiston shelter for the time being, she said. But her time there was running out and she had to find a place to go.

In the afternoons, Mary said, she was out trying to find ways to come up with money, by standing out with her sign or by selling plasma.

It was not a solitary mission in Auburn. Across the street, closer to CVS, her fiancé was out with his own sign.

“He’s been working a little,” Mary said. “But it isn’t enough.”

There aren’t enough hours through a temp agency to support them, Mary said. They tried staying with a friend, but that arrangement came with its own problems.

At nightfall Wednesday, Mary stood on the corner where passing drivers stop for traffic lights. It’s as good a corner as any for her purposes, Mary said.

“Overall, people have been pretty decent,” she said. “The ones who help out, most of them have been in the same situation.”

Police said Mary was not violating any policy as she stood on the corner. She was not disrupting traffic or acting aggressively,  Lt. Rick Coron said. No one was complaining.

At about 4 p.m., as Mary stood in sweatpants and sneakers, a hat and scarf over her face, a woman in an SUV stopped and unrolled her window. She handed Mary a $5 bill and wished her luck. Mary thanked the woman and went back to her chilly spot on the sidewalk.

With temperatures falling, it was time to wrap it up for the day. Mary said she would likely be back on Thursday. Or perhaps she would try another intersection closer to Walmart.

She doesn’t plan to panhandle forever.

“Things will turn around, I’m praying to God,” she said. “I have faith that the Lord will keep me warm.”

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