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Advocates urge immediate overdose prevention center in Bangor
Summary
Service providers and residents told the Bangor Homeless Advisory Committee that addiction is the dominant driver of visible homelessness and urged creation of a supervised overdose prevention center using existing buildings and opioid settlement funds.
Residents and service providers pressed the Bangor Homeless Advisory Committee on the need for an overdose prevention center (OPC). Scott Pardi, president and executive director of Fresh Start, told the committee: "We need an overdose prevention center in Bangor, and we need it now," saying an OPC would provide supervised care, peer support and a bridge to recovery without raising local property taxes.
Pardi argued the city already has potential assets to host such a site and pointed to more than $500,000 in opioid settlement funds designated to public health that could be deployed. He framed an OPC as both a public-health rescue station and a practical way to reduce public drug use and needle litter while connecting people to treatment and recovery services. Several committee members noted the recommendation and asked staff to circulate the plans and data discussed during public comment for follow-up at the next meeting.
The committee did not vote on the proposal; members instead directed staff to include related materials with the next meeting packet and to consider practical, near-term steps as part of the roadmap the advisory body is developing.
