The only overnight warming shelter in Maine north of Bangor opens Saturday, as temperatures drop and winter nears.
The 15-bed zero-barrier shelter within the administrative building of Homeless Services of Aroostook in Presque Isle is one of 12 warming centers funded through MaineHousing grants this year.
The shelter will be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day until April 30 — and the nonprofit is looking for funding to keep it open throughout the day.
“In the day program, we’re allowed to bring 20 people in,” Kari Bradstreet, the organization’s executive director, said Friday. “If we were able to bring 20 people in during the day, that would take care of the ones who are out in the cold.”
It’s the second year Homeless Services of Aroostook has offered an expanded warming shelter after purchasing a property at 160 Airport Drive, near its main shelter, in 2023 to meet a growing need. Previously, it created a warming area by rolling out mats and sleeping bags on the floor of the dining room in the Sister Mary O’Donnell shelter next door.
Now a collection of cots dots a room that also features a partial kitchen and a full bathroom. Those using the shelter can take a shower, do laundry and receive a warm meal plus breakfast in the morning. Those services have been highly utilized, Bradstreet said, as demand for the shelter has grown.
Last winter, 100 people spent a night in the warming shelter, up from 90 the previous year, for a total of around 1,000 bed nights, Bradstreet said. Eight to 12 people slept there each night on average.
That increase runs counter to the findings of this year’s Point in Time Count — the federally mandated single-night census of the sheltered and unsheltered homeless population in communities across the U.S. The 2025 report showed a year-over-year decline of roughly 15% in Aroostook County’s homeless population from 78 to 66 people.
“Homelessness in this area has increased. It’s still our neighbors and our friends,” Bradstreet said. “There are some people that come from away, but it really is our local people and they’re falling into hardships. The cost of living has risen extremely, and with that they just can’t afford to continue to be on their own.”
Homeless Services of Aroostook has both housing and resource navigators to help those in the shelter find housing and obtain fundamental documents such as a birth certificate or Social Security card.
The organization also provides priority referrals for substance use disorder, mental health and primary care services.
“If they want to come in and they want to do something and move forward, we’re going to support that all the way,” Bradstreet said.
There are a number of ways to support the shelter through both financial and item donations. Homeless Services of Aroostook has a list of items considered “immediate needs” that can be accessed by calling its administrative office. It also accepts clothing, bedding and food donations.
Financial contributions can be made by mail and through Venmo or PayPal. The nonprofit’s website has a donation link.
“We have kind of developed a way that anybody can give back and donate,” Bradstreet said. “If you can’t do it financially, there’s ways that you can do it through material items and volunteering.”
