AUGUSTA — A public hearing is set for tonight on a proposal to convert a building in Augusta into a service center for those without stable housing.

The United Community Living Center is hoping to convert the building at 12 Spruce St. into a year-round place for services and a daytime warming and cooling center.

Supporters say there’s an urgent need to help the nearly 300 people who used the city’s overnight warming center last winter.

“Simply put, without the Community Center, there is no safe, indoor daytime space for the unhoused community,” wrote Rabbi Erica Asch of Temple Beth El in a letter of support for the project.

The proposal comes from the United Community Living Center, a group led by Betty St. Hilaire. Earlier this year, St. Hilaire proposed transforming the Green Street Methodist Church into a homeless shelter, but the Planning Board rejected the proposal following hours of testimony in opposition.

This time, the group is looking to use a vacant former medical building on the city’s east side to give those without housing a place to prepare light meals and snacks, take a shower, get mail, store belongings, use computers and connect with social workers, according to Planning Board documents.

Those social workers will be trained to help with health care needs, jobs, education, transportation and housing.

St. Hilaire and others behind the effort helped found the winter overnight warming center in Augusta, which closes during the day. The new center is envisioned as a place where people can go when the overnight shelter is not open, according to the application.

Another letter of support for the project is from Scott Klinger, a Gardiner resident who drives a social service van for the Kennebec Valley Community Action Agency.

He said he volunteers on Saturday mornings at a local church that sponsors a community breakfast for those without housing. He urged the board to approve the permit request.

“It is not going to solve all of the problems of addiction, mental health and other disabilities, but that love will make our neighbors feel less alone and like their lives matter,” he wrote. “Without these things, their long-term chances of healing and change are limited.”

The board meets at 6 p.m. and is expected to vote on the application following the public hearing, according to city officials.