Elena’s Way and Florence House are two of Maine’s five privately operated, low-barrier shelters that provide the intensive services and supports that people, who are unsheltered with complex needs, require. Low-barrier shelters like Elena’s Way and Florence House, do not require background checks, credit checks, or income verification, previous program participation, sobriety, or ID for access to services. Low-barrier shelters provide services to people experiencing mental or behavioral health challenges and/or substance use disorders – they are the first place that people can go to begin the process of recovering from homelessness.  

All shelter staff at Elena’s Way and Florence House are trained in social work assessment and use established social work best practices in their approaches, interactions, and interventions. The principles of harm reduction, client-centered care, and strengths-based social work are essential tools for staff and critical to establishing a trauma-informed and therapeutic environment. Serving as the ‘emergency room’ in the shelter-to-housing continuum, low-barrier shelters are directly on the frontlines of Maine’s opioid crisis. Every ten days, a client at one of Preble Street’s programs experiences an overdose. Additional staff are needed for low-barrier shelters because of the intensity of the work, which includes regular overdose prevention and the thoughtful, intensive aftercare that comes after an overdose.