An asylum seeker kicks a soccer ball around in August in front of the Ramada hotel on Pleasant Street in Lewiston. They are part of a group that was bused there earlier in the day from the Portland Expo shelter. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
LEWISTON — Several asylum seeker families that were housed at the Ramada by Wyndham Lewiston Hotel and Conference Center have been placed in permanent housing, while others were moved to family shelters in the greater Portland area, according to Nicole Evers, Portland’s acting program coordinator for the resettlement program.
Portland has managed to find permanent housing for five of the families in Portland or the area, she said. Seven families were placed in family shelters and the city is working on customized housing plans for them.
No families from the Ramada were placed in permanent housing in Lewiston but the city has placed families from other shelter sites in the Lewiston-Auburn area and the children in those families attend city schools, she said.
As families moved out of the Ramada they also transferred their children out of city schools and Evers does not believe any of those children remain in Lewiston schools.
All asylum seekers were moved out of the Ramada on Oct. 30 after being placed there Aug. 16. Roughly 20 families were placed in 23 rooms at the hotel. They were some of 60 families moved out of the Portland Expo. Other families were sent to the Casco Bay Inn in Freeport.
The city of Lewiston was not involved with the relocation but city officials had received a courtesy call from Portland staff earlier that week giving them a heads-up about the plan.
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