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In September, the Lewiston City Council approved a permanent, low-barrier shelter to be run by Kaydenz Kitchen. Weeks later, the council amended ordinances to allow New Beginnings to operate a temporary youth shelter for people 18 to 24 years old. These developments come two years after the City Council passed a moratorium on low-barrier shelters. An ad-hoc shelter committee was then formed to address homelessness in the city.”For the people that argue that the more assistance you give to these people the more you’re going to attract, the response to that is, well, they’re going somewhere. They have to be dealt with somehow,” said Councilor David Chittim, one of several city leaders elected to the council in 2023.Only one councilor who was in office when the moratorium was passed in 2022 remains on the council today. The new crop of city leaders is recognizing the needs identified by the shelter committee and industry leaders. Willie Ponds, the executive director of Hope Haven Gospel Mission, explained, “You’ll see people pushing carts. You’ll see people laying on the ground. You’ll see people on the corner asking for donations.” Hope Haven is an emergency shelter serving men, women and families. Ponds feels the more shelter options available, the better. And while that is something the city council is working towards, Councilor Chittim emphasized that shelters are not the only solution to homelessness in Lewiston. He said, “The very definition of homelessness is that you don’t have a home, and you don’t have a home because people have been priced out of the housing market.”Ponds and Nate Libby, incoming director of the economic and community development department, agree living in Maine is expensive. “A two-bedroom apartment that might have gone for $800 pre-pandemic is going for $1,500 today,” Libby told Maine’s Total Coverage.The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported in September 2024 that more than 60,000 renters and 80,000 homeowners in Maine are cost-burdened because they pay more than 30% of their income in housing costs.Chittim questioned, “When does it become excessive that people are becoming unhoused because the landlords need to make a profit?”To address these housing concerns, Libby explained old buildings in the city are being renovated into housing and new homes are being built. He said the Economic and Community Development Department planned and permitted 1,000 units of new housing for the next five years.With time, Libby thinks the housing market will become easier to navigate. Ponds is hopeful it will. “Everybody has had a home before,” he said. “They’re just experiencing homelessness.”Applications to live in the city’s new developments can be found online, and the Lewiston Housing Authority can help navigate that process. Maine Housing has resources available as well.