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Committee moves Portland‑style housing pilot toward council first reading
Summary
Staff recommended using local opioid‑settlement funds as the 30% match for a Maine Housing 'Project Hope' pilot model that would place intensive case managers at local providers; the committee voted to advance the proposal to a council first reading for further review.
City staff described a Maine Housing proposal modeled on Portland’s Project Hope that places intensive case managers with local ESHAP providers and a program coordinator at city hall; the program requires a local 30% match estimated at about $125,000 and does not include direct rent vouchers.
"Portland enrolled a 118 people with 75 housing placements," Nunerman said, presenting local outcomes from the Portland implementation and arguing Bangor has the partner infrastructure to replicate the model. She added that matching local funds could come from unused opioid‑settlement dollars the city currently holds.
Committee members asked whether the program would be limited to people with substance use disorder and how general assistance obligations would apply when people are placed outside Bangor. Nunerman said enrollment in Portland was grassroots and that the program in Bangor could enroll people outside coordinated entry; legal staff would confirm Exhibit E eligibility and any required percentages for substance‑use‑impacted individuals.
After discussion, Chair Michael Beck put a motion forward to send the proposal to the council for a first reading. "So we have a motion to move this on for a resolve for 2 readings for council, 1st reading," he said, and the committee approved advancing the item.
