NEWS & UPDATES
Anti-trafficking service awarded $500,000
The Department of Justice awarded $100 million to help victims and combat human trafficking across the country. Preble Street’s Anti-Trafficking Services will get $500,000 over a three-year period. Those services have already helped 200 people in Maine since it began in 2013, according to Preble Street. In the last year, staff saw a 20% increase
Initiative focuses on those in grip of trafficking, hidden in plain sight
Preble Street is striving to raise awareness of sexual and labor exploitation and help survivors reclaim their lives. Myriad obstacles stand in the way of well-being and independence for the people Preble Street serves. But for few are the barriers as brutal as for the survivors of human trafficking with whom Preble Street Anti-Trafficking Services works.
Maine works to end homelessness among veterans
So far this year 450 veterans and their families have been served at Preble Street, according to Executive Director Mark Swann. Twenty-five of those veterans entered the shelter system across the state due to homelessness. Preble Street, with the help of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion,
Some Maine families at risk of losing food stamps
A rule change from the Trump administration could knock thousands of Maine families, seniors, and people with disabilities off food stamps. Meredith Cook of the Preble Street Maine Hunger Initiative says the proposed rule jeopardizes other federal benefits like free and reduced lunches. “Many families are directly certified into the school lunch program based on
Among those helping Maine’s new arrivals: Other immigrants
A pot of turkey and tomatoes, stewed with turmeric, needs stirring. The plantains are prepped, along with fish spiced with garlic and ginger. At Preble Street, a social service agency in Portland, Maine, fans meant to cool the kitchen’s heat amplify the aroma. On a recent afternoon, a handful of volunteers cooked 600 meals to
Preble Street Helps Identify Crime of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is not a new crime, but it has recently prompted heightened attention and action among social services, legal services, law enforcement, and the general public. Human trafficking victims/survivors are forced or coerced — through sexual, physical, psychological violence, and/or torture — to perform a variety of labor including sex work, domestic services, childcare,
Maine Signs Historic Student Hunger Bill Into Law
More than 45,000 Maine students will get Breakfast After the Bell through a critically needed new law. Breakfast After the Bell allows schools across the state to provide the meals in the classroom before the school day begins, after first period, or through a “grab and go” option. One in five Maine children lives in a food
Amid the Darkness of a Border Crisis, There Is Light in the City of Portland, Maine
Since June 8th, nearly 300 asylum seekers — all families — have been bussed to Portland from Texas and New Mexico. Meanwhile, the local soup kitchen, Preble Street is providing nutritious African meals to the migrants — breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a far cry from what kids are being fed at the border (“oatmeal, a
Preble Street donates food to asylum seekers
Along with the need for shelter, asylum seekers also need food, as they are legally barred from working during the transition. Preble Street is stepping up to make sure asylum seekers don’t go hungry. Watch more…
Young and on their own in Maine
“Most youth who are accessing our services have fled their home because it felt unsafe in some way. That may have been extreme substance abuse in the home, it may have been some sort of physical, emotional or sexual violence,” said Leah McDonald, the Preble Street Teen Services Program Director. “They’ve gotten to a place
Housing As a Human Right
Freedom Network USA interviewed Senior Director of Teen and Anti-Trafficking Services Daniella Cameron about how housing programs – and survivor-first practices – give individuals the opportunity of choice after their trauma. Read more…
What is "housing first"?
…with housing first, people are given a safe, stable place to live and offered support, whether its for substance use disorder, mental illness, physical health or employment training. “We really feel housing is itself therapeutic,” said Hillary Colcord, the director of Huston Commons, a housing-first facility in Portland. Portland has three separate developments dedicated to
