"We appreciate the effort by so many partners to propose options for housing and shelter in the state and expect to have discussions with the organizations about this proposal in coming weeks," he said. Janet Mills' senior housing advisor, said in a statement the administration is reviewing the proposal. There are tons of nearby hikes, adventurous activities. "Therefore, we have underutilized capacity and infrastructure that could be used as transitional housing, which we communicated to GPCOG." Are you in need of a campground near Unity, ME Unity is a great camping destination for everyone. "We are in the unique position of having the majority of our students choose distance learning and low residency in multiple locations," he said. Melik Peter Khoury said in a statement that the university has not received a formal proposal, but "is willing to help if there is a proper plan in place with the state, town, and advocacy groups." Rwaganje said if the plan is to succeed, the local community should be given information about how immigration has benefited other Maine towns, citing the economic activity that Somali business owners have brought to downtown Lewiston. Rwaganje said even though the asylum seekers his group works with would prefer to live near Portland, he believes many would relocate farther away if stable housing were available. "So, if we have 500, 600 people at Unity College, it's an hour and a half, I don't see a problem of us going there." "We definitely will take our services where people are," he said. While Unity is a small, rural town far from many established immigration-focused services, some advocates said they don't see distance as a major barrier.Ĭlaude Rwaganje, executive director of ProsperityME, a Portland-based nonprofit that works closely with immigrant communities, said his group will go wherever its services are needed, if there's funding to support it. My family was up in Maine this past weekend looking at land to purchase in Unity or Thorndike. A reader recently visited the settlement at Unity and had the following story and photos to share. "And, in turn, those shelter beds could be freed up for people who are currently in encampments." 33 Comments Being a bit off the beaten path, we haven’t had too much on this site about Amish communities in Maine. "Right now, between 160-180 of those shelter beds are occupied by asylum seekers who would be better served by transitional housing," Ray said. She also said the plan would benefit other unhoused individuals by freeing up resources in municipalities currently supporting large numbers of asylum seekers, pointing to Portland's recently opened Homeless Services Center as one example. Ray said initial preference would be given to single asylum seeker adults or those with children who are not yet school age, to minimize impact on the local school system. "And as we started to dig into the numbers, we found that at a cost-per-person basis, it's actually cheaper than using hotels for this purpose," Ray said.Īs written, the proposal estimates the per-person, per-day cost of housing people at the Unity campus would be $36, compared with $73 at a hotel in Saco and $175 at one of the hotels in South Portland. Unity, Maine Our 90 Quaker Hill Road campus in Unity, Maine is situated on 225 acres surrounded by woodlands and hills, a short walk from downtown Unity. The proposal pegs the cost of a one-year lease at $7.8 million, including meals, utilities, public safety and other services. Stone Tree is 100 miles from our house but we had such a fun time and enjoyed the cider and wine so much that we are already planning a return trip.Ray said her group submitted the proposal after discussions with state and municipal agencies, social service providers and immigration advocates. Stone Tree has a small, attractive tasting room and a lovely patio, as well as extensive seating on the grounds where one can enjoy a tasting or a glass of wine while also drinking in the wonderful views. Oh, and a couple of the frozen wine slushies, which were a real treat. We ended up purchasing three bottles of wine and a growler of cider. Some are made with grapes grown on the premises, and some are fruit-based. While my main interest was cider, Stone Tree also has a good selection of wines and we had a complimentary tasting of several of those. The flavors, which are subject to change, were traditional dry, blackberry, cherry, strawberry, and raspberry. We did a tasting of the ciders and got 5 samples for $5. What a great experience! The setting is beautiful and Brian, one of the proprietors, was such a good, engaging host. We love cider so when a pretty day came along, we made the drive up to Unity to check out the recently opened (June of this year) Stone Tree Farm & Cidery. Unity College, located in Pineland Farms, New Gloucester, Maine, occupies several unique facilities and operates business ventures across the state of Maine: Pineland Farms, New Gloucester, Maine.
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