UPDATE FEBRUARY 24, 2026: Mainers experiencing homelessness need you to advocate for shelter funding now!
After the public hearing and work session on the shelter funding bill earlier this month, the Housing and Economic Development Committee has tabled the bill and is scheduling another work session. We cannot let this bill die in committee! From York to Aroostook Counties, too many of our neighbors are being left outside in extreme weather conditions as emergency shelters close or teeter on the brink of closing due to lack of funding.
Please email the Housing and Economic Development Committee at HED@legislature.maine.gov and tell them to vote “Ought to Pass” on LD 2124, An Act to Support Emergency Shelter Funding Using Revenue from the Real Estate Transfer Tax. Tell them:
- Our existing shelters are full almost every night. Shelters closing = more individuals and families on the street.
- There is currently not enough support from towns, counties, and the state to maintain current shelter levels.
- Emergency shelters play an important role in helping people move from homelessness to permanent housing. When individuals and families have a safe place to stay and access to support services, they can find housing faster and start rebuilding their lives.
Thank you!
February 4, 2026
Depending on where a person lives in our state, they may need to travel hours to the nearest shelter if they become homeless. There is no guarantee that when they arrive there will be a bed available. Right now, there are not enough shelter beds in Maine for the thousands of individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Yet, year after year, the shelters that provide critical care and services to vulnerable individuals and families are on the brink of shutting down due to lack of sustainable and permanent funding.
LD 2124, An Act to Support Emergency Shelter Funding Using Revenue from the Real Estate Transfer Tax, would help ensure Maine’s 40 shelters can continue to provide the accessible, professionally run, and lifesaving services that support people from all of Maine’s 16 counties.
You can help! Submit written testimony or testify in person or online on LD 2124 and tell the Housing and Economic Development Committee to vote “Ought to pass”!
- Maine’s Housing and Economic Development Committee is holding a public hearing on Tuesday, February 10, at 1 pm in Augusta (Cross Building, Room 206)
- Submit written testimony or sign up to testify via Zoom here
How would LD 2124 help, and why does it matter?
1. Emergency shelters are a pathway to housing. Most emergency shelters offer more than a place to sleep. Professional shelter staff support individuals and families in navigating housing options, addressing barriers, and connecting to employment and healthcare supports to move out of homelessness as quickly as possible.
2. Funding shelters makes sense for local budgets. When shelters lack funding, more people end up outside in dangerous elements, increasing both human and financial costs. A 2025 study showed that even temporary shelter access reduces the stress on a state’s emergency response system, including police calls, emergency room visits, and medical transports, which cost taxpayers money. More importantly, shelters save lives. People surviving outdoors experience higher rates of illness, injury, trauma, and death, and they struggle to access housing programs designed to help them.
3. Current funding levels aren’t cutting it. While the one-time funding from the state made a real difference last year, it was only a temporary fix. Shelters still need a lasting solution, especially since the main funding they rely on hasn’t increased since 2016. In May 2025, York County Adult Shelter closed its doors leaving the entire region without this critical resource, and many of our neighbors with no place to turn. We can’t let this happen again. Every shelter closure reduces the number of shelter beds in Maine, increases human suffering, and places greater pressure on police, emergency medical services, hospitals, municipalities, and on the next closest, already full shelter.
Please submit testimony to the Housing and Economic Development Committee today!
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Preble Street testimony in support of permanent, sustainable funding for Maine emergency shelters
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