The homeless population seems to only be growing, some days the parks are clear and beautiful, and others, they are overrun, looking like a dirty Woodstock that’s been running since the original started. They have nowhere else to go.

Just in the Press Herald was an article headlined “Portland’s unsheltered homeless population is on the rise as temperatures drop” (Oct. 26). It details the uncertainty, this winter, facing many of the homeless, with the shelters operating at reduced capacity because of the pandemic. Federal funding has put some people and families into hotel rooms on a temporary basis, but that is set to expire by the end of the year.

An affordable housing crisis is taking place in Maine currently, but the first priority for Portland city officials should be constructing a newer, larger, better shelter for the homeless in our area as, clearly, the ones we have now do not seem to be working.

From the article, a man, Kabir Geiger, spoke to the Press Herald about his experiences: “You would have to experience this to understand it. I’m so desensitized and traumatized. It’s killing me physically. I’m falling to pieces.”

Without more shelters, we are leaving more men and women to fend for themselves and sleep in the streets. All we have to do is build a building,

Ben Martin
Portland