DAMARISCOTTA — Last winter, Quinn Gormley, an organizer for the Mid Coast Queer Collective based out of Damariscotta, got a call from a member of the organization at 2 in the morning. “It was in the middle of February and this person had just been kicked out of his house after coming out to his family,” she said. “He was 10 miles from downtown with no transportation. He didn’t even have good winter clothing; it was 10 degrees below and they had no place to go.”

It was a scary moment for the organization, which scrambled to try and find this person some short-term help; it was also a watershed moment.

Of all of the homeless youth under the age of 24 in the U.S., 40 percent identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, said Gormley, adding they are at the highest risk of homelessness.

MCQC operates a drop-in program at Skidompha Library. “Homelessness is showing up more and more in our drop-in program,” said Gormley. “Frequently it was happening at times when the individual was coming out and housing instability or homelessness would then occur very suddenly.”

In the Damariscotta area, the nearest youth homelessness shelter is an hour away, in Portland, and there are frequently no beds available. More importantly, homeless shelters by and large are are not necessarily welcoming places to L.G.B.T.Q. people, according to Gormley, who has heard this time and again from MCQC members who fear for their safety.

The larger solution — providing an L.G.B.T.Q.-welcoming homeless shelter in that area — is not a reality at this time. What these homeless youth do instead, is couch surf at friends’ places, sleep in cars or shuffle around to extended family.

“These are really temporary solutions,” said Gormley.

The organization has been working since last winter to find alternative solutions. “We realized we can’t solve homelessness, but we can do something about helping youth who are thrust out of their homes suddenly,” she said. “When they are in temporary shelters and need basic resources and supplies to survive, we thought to put together “safety packs.”

Like a military bug-out bag, a portable kit that normally contains the items one would require to survive for 72 hours when evacuating from a disaster, MCQC has put out a call to the community to donate items for safety packs for immediately homeless L.G.B.T.Q. youth.

“The idea is when we learn someone is coming out and think it’s not going to be safe, we give them the backpack ahead of time,” said Gormley. “So, if they get kicked out, they have the go-bag with school supplies, warm clothing and that kind of stuff. And eventually, we’re going to add TracFones.”

The items needed for a safety pack include:  A large backpack (rolling bag or duffle); a tiny lock that fits on a backpack zipper; an emergency blanket; a face cloth; a basic first aid kit (bandage strips and butterfly bandages in assorted sizes, over-the-counter pain relievers, alcohol wipes, elastic wrap bandages); basic toiletries (travel-size toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, comb, nail clipper, hand sanitizer, 18 tampons-they have multiple uses, roll of toilet paper); no. 2 pencils and a small pencil sharpener; a box of black pens; a small notepad; and a Reny’s or similar gift card. Donated items do not have to be exactly as described above; a close approximation is fine.

Asked about the tampons, Gormley said, “All of the items in the bag aren’t just randomly assembled. We actually reached out to homeless L.G.B.T.Q. youth and asked them specifically what they needed, and they said that tampons are really useful for bloody noses. If you’re outside all night, you’re going to get a bloody nose.”

The drive to assemble the safety packs started in June and at this time, they now have five completed packs to give away.

“Our target is to assemble at least 50 of them before the snow flies,” Gormley said.

Items may be dropped off either at the Second Congregational Church’s office or at the office of Skidompha Public Library Executive Pam Gormley.

Related link:

• Maine State Housing Authority Emergency Shelters

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com