Heather MacLeod Cote at the Marginal Way Homeless Tent Village Today.

An Anti-trump Sign Outside the Courtroom in Washington DC Where trump Was Arraigned at 4:00 pm Today.  MLGA:  Make Loosing Great Again.

Some of the Tents at the Marginal Parking Lot Today.

Heather MacLeod Cote, 40, is pretty and has three years of college to her credit with a major in occupational therapy.  She has a 16 year old daughter, Bella, who wants to live with her mother; also to her credit.  Heather was standing beside her brown tent that collapsed earlier today and will have to be replaced when this blogger met her at the MaineDOT parking lot on Marginal Way, Portland.

But  Heather’s  mind was not on the  collapsed tent and getting it replaced.  She was busy helping move other occupants of the Marginal Way parking lot to the approved section.  because there is a deadline for the move required by MaineDOT; 24 hours or less.  She said that she had helped about twenty of the homeless relocate to comply wih the state’s requirement.

Heather  volunteers at Preble Street.  Heather knows some of the residents of Kennedy Park and often times they have clothing they give her to give to the members of the homeless community on Marginal Way.    “I have to keep myself busy,” she said.    I have to keep my mind occupied with other things than my situation.”  She has worked in the health care field previously.

Last year she was assigned a two bedroom suite at the Residence Inn on the east end of Portland.  That was so her daughter could live with her.  “I thought I’d be there long-term.  They offered me a two bedroom suite so my daughter could live with me. But it ended abruptly.  They sprung the news on me. Something about a problem with Opportunity Alliance ended my four month stay there.”

Heather has been on a waiting list for an apartment for two years.  She thought that sharing custody as she does would bump her up the waiting list.  But it hasn’t.

“I think the city tries to hide the homeless problem,” Heather said.  “The number of homeless people is a huge problem and the city tries to keep it a secret.    The real number of homeless people is much higher than the city admits.  The city tries to keep secret how many people are dying.  There are a lot of people with mental illness issues and no one to help them.  I see what I can do to help,” she said.

For more information on MaineDOT’s policy, please visit post herein dated August 2, 2023.