Eunice Bentley throws a pillow on a bed Friday at State Street Church, where members have renovated and prepared rooms in the parish hall with state funding to provide shelter for homeless families. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

For the past two winters, State Street Church in Portland has opened its doors to shelter a few families when the city’s shelters were full.

A dozen people at a time have stayed in the Fireside Room, a gathering place in the parish hall at 159 State St. which is named after its large fireplace. Church members turned it into a temporary shelter lined with folding cots and chairs. Families used the adjacent large kitchen to cook.

On Monday, the church begins its third winter as a flood shelter for Portland family homes — but now families will be housed in special spaces in the basement of the parish hall, which has been completely renovated over the past two years.

Funded by $450,000 in grants from MaineHousing and the Cora L. Brown Foundation, the purpose-built shelter will house up to 24 people who have nowhere else to go on cold winter nights.

“We’re basically keeping people from freezing to death,” said the Rev. Bryan Breault, pastor of the United Church of Christ.

The church is hosting an open house Sunday from 1-4 p.m., when many of the shelter’s volunteer staff will get a first look at the 4,000-square-foot space. The shelter is staffed at night by a coalition of 17 faith communities across Greater Portland who help Breault’s congregation run the shelter.

Pedro Miguel tucks his son Denilson into bed in the Fireside Room at State Street Church on March 23, 2023. A dozen people would sleep in this room before the church received funding to renovate its basement into a special shelter. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Several volunteers were putting the finishing touches on the shelter on Friday morning. Some beds made. Others were setting up tables in the Fireside Room, which is where shelter residents will eat.

“It’s an exciting moment for all of us,” Breault said. “We’re going to celebrate this a little.”

The shelter is licensed by the city and built to meet modern construction and safety codes. It will operate from mid-November to mid-April from 7pm to 7am Monday to Saturday, when residents must leave the shelter during the day. It will be open all day Sundays and public holidays.

The church began receiving overflow from the city’s family homes in early 2022, as Portland struggled to accommodate an influx of asylum seekers from the southern US border. It received asylum seekers last winter and expects more to arrive on Monday evening.

The family home at State Street Church in Portland opens Monday. “We’re basically keeping people from freezing to death,” said Pastor Bryan Breault. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

When church members unanimously agreed in 2022 to provide emergency housing, the only requirements were that it be for families left homeless during the winter.

“So far it’s been immigrants because that’s the need,” Breault said.

The city’s 150-bed family home has been around for several years now, according to city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin.

“The city is always supportive and appreciative of our community partners who help us provide emergency housing,” she said.

While the state funds did not come with a specific time frame, the church intends to operate the winter family shelter for the foreseeable future, Breault said.

The dedicated shelter was built in the former location of the church’s clothing closet, which provides free clothing and household items to people in need, and was moved to a larger, upgraded space during the pandemic. When the parish hall was built in the early 1920s, there were rooms in the basement for scout meetings and church dinners.

Debra Yoo puts a pillowcase on a pillow Friday as she sets up a bed in a room at State Street Church. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Sean Boyles of Centerline Construction in Freeport, the church’s general contractor, wore two pairs of steel-toed boots working on the shelter project, which included clearing the space, removing a channel of concrete, digging into shale rock and installing all new walls and utility systems.

“I was on my hands and knees a lot,” Boyles said. “It has been a challenging project, especially working on a building of this age. You just form a relationship with the building and work with it.”

Boyles, who is not a member of the church, also did the work at a lower cost, and he persuaded many of the subcontractors to do the same. Briburn Architects and Ripcord Engineering provided architectural, plumbing and ventilation design services free of charge.

“You just do what you can, when you can,” Boyles said.

The shelter contains four bedrooms for families that can accommodate up to six beds each; two single rooms for overnight staff; a large bathroom with several sinks, toilets and showers; a separate accessible bathroom with sink, toilet and shower; a laundry room and a living area.

Sean Boyles of Center Line Construction has handled much of the State Street Church renovation as they prepare rooms in the parish hall to provide shelter for homeless families. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Breault noted that all guests come from the city’s family homes. The church shelter has neither the staff nor the training to accommodate drop-in requests.

The shelter project has been a fulfilling and eye-opening experience for all church members who have been involved, Breault said.

David Morin, a retired pediatrician who lives in South Portland, clerked on the job. On site almost every day, he kept an eye on progress and reported regularly to Breault.

“All you have to do is see a family in zero-degree weather to feel like you need to do something,” Morin said. “This was something I could do to help.”

State Street Church members Gary Burnett, left; Eunice Bentley and Landis Gabel set up a food drive on Friday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Eunice Bentley, president of the church’s mission board, said working on the shelter project aligns with her faith and helps counter widespread anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“I’ve learned so much from the families that have stayed here and they are so grateful,” Bentley said. “We do the work. We are the feet on the ground. We do what Jesus would do.”

Other faith communities providing volunteers to staff the shelter at State Street Church are the Baha’i Community, Trinity Episcopal Church, Williston-Immanuel United Church, Woodfords Congregational Church and First Parish in Portland; Congregation Bet Ha’am and First Congregational Church in South Portland; Tuttle Road Community Church and Congregational Church in Cumberland; Falmouth Congregational Church and Foreside Community Church in Falmouth; First Universalist Church of Yarmouth; First Congregational Christian Church of New Gloucester; North Yarmouth Congregational Church and South Freeport Congregational Church.

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