Shelter from the Storm

Volunteers delivering garden veggies and baked goods to the Emergency Overnight Warming Center.

Healthy Acadia is grateful to have been able to open an Emergency Overnight Warming Center for the duration of Hurricane Lee’s presence in the region to provide shelter and safety to community members who are unhoused or unsafely housed, to protect them from the dangerous weather.

We temporarily opened our INSPIRE Recovery Center, located at 24 Church St., Ellsworth as an Emergency Overnight Warming Center from 4 pm. on Friday, September 15, through 6 a.m. Sunday, September 17, 2023. The Center welcomed those who are unhoused or unsafely housed from across Hancock and Washington counties, and we had a total of fifteen guests join us throughout the weekend to escape the storm. Cots, sleeping mats, and comfortable seating were available, as well as food and drinking water.

We are so grateful to have been able to deliver this service - which came at the request of the City of Ellsworth and other partners - and to support some of our most vulnerable community members with a warm, safe, dry, friendly place to be.

A big thank you to Ellsworth Fire Department for providing 20 cots, and to Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital for bringing soup. And a big thank you to donors, volunteers, and staff who made this weekend possible.

To support this and other emergency safety and shelter needs, please click here. Thank you!