Bangor Area Homeless Shelter warming center opens Dec. 7

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - The Bangor Area Homeless Shelter is preparing to open the doors to its overnight warming center starting next week.

On Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 6 p.m. the warming center will begin its fifth season.

It’s open until 5:30 a.m. with a hot meal served around 7 p.m. every night.

There’s room for 38 people at one time, up from 24 in recent years due to the pandemic.

BAHS planned to open the warming center later in the month, but an impending $15,000 from the city sped that timeline up.

“We made a conscious decision to wait until the middle of December to open it. And then the city, because of the looming crisis of people experiencing homelessness, who are outside, the city asked if we would reconsider and open early. They said they would help fund the staffing part of that for the extra two weeks to open early. So, we’ve applied for a grant through the city, and they’ve led us to believe that we’ll be getting that money,” said Boyd Kronholm, executive director of Bangor Homeless Shelter.

Due to tight quarters and the unknown vaccination status of guests, the shelter is requiring masks for the warming center.

As a result they’re in need of donations of disposable masks.

If you’re able to donate, you can drop them off in person, mail them to the shelter, or call for more information.

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