Homelessness has never been worse in Maine, and we are at a turning point.

This week the Legislature will decide whether to fund L.D. 2136, a bill which provides much needed funding to Maine shelters, or to watch several of them close in the next few months.

Last month the Legislature approved additional funding for low-barrier shelters, who are the only shelters that serve people with addiction and who are on the sex offender registry, among many other characteristics. This funding will save Hope House in Bangor and the shelter I lead, Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter & Services in Waterville, and was vital to make sure low-barrier shelter was available outside of Portland.

But make no mistake: Far too many other shelters are in a fiscal crisis and will not survive the summer without new revenue.

The shelter system as a whole has not received an increase in funding since 2017. Is there another vital human service that has seen dramatic increases in demand that is asked to subsist on revenue from eight years ago? No business could do it, let alone do the work well with dignity for the people they serve.

Many people are under the impression that homelessness is caused by mental illness and addiction. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that 55% of homeless households in Maine had a child under the age of 18 and the fastest growing population are seniors.

The reality is that the biggest contributing factor to increasing homelessness is the unaffordability of housing.

According to the State of Maine Housing Production Needs Study released in October of last year, Maine needs approximately 80,000 units of affordable housing to correct for years of underproduction and meet growing demand. Even with historic housing production in 2023-24, it will take decades to fill this gap.

People in a housing crisis can’t wait that long.

More people than ever have resorted to sleeping outside. Municipalities across Maine are struggling to balance the needs of desperate people and of communities who want safe and welcoming public spaces. Aside from the aesthetics, encampments are inherently unsafe for occupants with high levels of violence, including robbery, assault, human trafficking, and disproportionately high rates of death.

This is not the way life should be for anyone.

Shelters provide the only safe alternative for thousands of people every night. Our sector works with men, women, children, young people, seniors, veterans, domestic violence survivors, the disabled, the formerly incarcerated, and those who defy labels yet still have no place to go at night.

Maine must decide whether to continue to do what we’ve always done — take care of people while taking care of our beautiful communities, or if we will go the way of California and Oregon and other western states where unsheltered homelessness is the norm.

Already the Supreme Court is poised to let that happen.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Last October, in collaboration with many partners, we ended unsheltered homelessness in Waterville. That was possible because Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter provided 40 additional beds on some nights because we refused to turn anyone away.

We can do the same across the state if we have sufficient funding.

But not if our shelters are expected to do the work for free. Free doesn’t make payroll, pay for auditors, or keep the lights on.

There are no easy answers to solving homelessness for good, but there is one thing I know for certain: all Mainers deserve a safe place to sleep tonight.

Without funding for Maine’s shelters, far too many Mainers will literally be left out in the cold. But we don’t have to let this happen.

If they believe the sign at the state line, they need to make sure that Maine is the way life should be for everyone.

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