PORTLAND (WGME) – Portland area leaders are trying to raise $1.5 million to create transitional housing for asylum seekers instead of putting people up in costly hotel rooms.
“We're exceptionally happy today,” Mufalo Chitam of the Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition said.
The Greater Portland Council of Governments is launching the “Safe in Maine Fund” to create a long-term solution to a long-term issue.
“This initiative exemplifies what meaningful investment in the lives of immigrants looks like,” Chitam said.
They're hoping to use the money to build either new construction, quick-build modular units or retrofit existing buildings.
“The exact configuration has not been determined,” Greater Portland Council of Governments Director of Strategic Partnerships Belinda Ray said. “There are many possibilities.”
The goal is to create 200 units in the next two years, with the location to be determined.
The goal is $1.5 million, but the group will need more from other sources.
Money could come from private donors, grants, foundations and municipalities, with Westbrook making one of the first donations: $5,000 from its contingency fund.
“We encourage other communities and those who wish to support these efforts to join us,” Westbrook Mayor Michael Foley said.
Right now, about 400 asylum seeking families are staying in hotels, which are then reimbursed through FEMA.
Leaders expect that funding to run out in October. Then, communities and the state would be responsible for the cost.
“Hotel housing for people, for families, is not ideal,” Portland Mayor Kate Snyder said.
The Greater Portland Council of Governments says it costs $7,000 a month for housing in a hotel and another $5,000 a month for food.
That comes to $144,000 a year per family.
“It is very high,” Ray said. “So if you look at that figure you immediately think, ‘Is there a better way?’ There is a better way. ‘Why aren't we doing it?’ We're working toward it and it's going to save us a lot of money.”
When the first people could move in will depend on how long it takes to fundraise, the permitting process and construction time.