Augusta next in line to offer housing for Somali refugees

AUGUSTA – City officials are gearing up for an influx of Somali refugees who apparently intend to make Augusta their next stop now that Lewiston is saturated with the newcomers.

Assistant City Manager Michael Lombardo said he received word that as many as 2,000 Somalis may be coming to the capital city by year’s end.

Lewiston and Portland simply cannot absorb any more Somalis, he said, which makes Augusta an obvious alternative for the refugees.

At least one Somali family already is looking for housing within the city, Lombardo said, and Augusta’s health and welfare office has received a visit from representatives of the Somali community in Portland.

The city would support the refugees initially with welfare checks, and also would help them find housing, he said.

Augusta officials have been talking with Lewiston City Manager Philip Nadeau about how to go about taking in a large number of immigrants all at once. Lewiston, Lombardo has been told, simply cannot take many more Somalis because of the drain on city resources.

One area of concern is the schools, which would have to bolster programs for English as a second language.

“I believe Augusta can respond, but we have to be proactive. There would be some significant challenges, just the cultural differences between Muslims and a population that is mainly Christian,” he said.

The first round of Somali refugees settled in Portland through a Catholic resettlement project that helps a number of refugees, not just Somalis. They looked to Lewiston because of a lack of affordable housing in Portland.

Many Somalis first settled in Atlanta, and began moving north because they didn’t like the cost of housing and the reception they received there.

At least 1,000 have settled in Lewiston.

“Once refugees are here and settled in, then others come,” Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood said. He said they want to be here because safety is a big issue and Maine is a relatively safe state.

Chitwood said he’s expecting the expansion of Somalis to go all the way up the Maine Turnpike to Augusta and then to Waterville.