NEWS & UPDATES
Letter to the editor: General Assistance helps to produce proud, contributing citizens
I came to the U.S. as an asylum seeker from Rwanda in May 2011, having fled my country because of persecution, torture and the fear of being assassinated. I left behind my wife and four children, my assets, my culture and my job. I had served as a humanitarian worker for 10 years before opening
Preble Street Job Seekers Become "Rising Stars"
The first group of students to participate in Southern Maine Community College’s new Hospitality and Customer Service Rising Stars Academy has graduated with skills that are in high demand by the hospitality trade in Maine. The academy, based on the South Portland campus, provided 96 hours of entry-level hospitality training to the unemployed and underemployed
Patriot Subaru Earns $40,000 for Preble Street
Patriot Subaru of Saco presented a check for $40,000 to Preble Street, a Portland-based social service nonprofit, as part of "Share the Love," an annual charitable benefit sponsored by Subaru of America. The presentation was made at Preble Street on Friday, March 20th. Between November 20, 2014, and January 2, 2015, Subaru donated $250 to
Life at the Oxford Street Shelter: ‘Will I get a bed tonight?’
After she makes 16 beds at the hotel where she works, Lori Godin boards a bus, waits in line at a Portland homeless shelter, and if she’s lucky, she will get to make one more. Standing in the cold, Godin adjusted the straps of her backpack, the one that she’s lived out of for two
Task Force to Propose Changes for Portland Homeless Shelter
PORTLAND (WGME) — Portland’s City Council voted unanimously Monday to create a task force that will assess Portland’s Oxford Street Homeless Shelter. “I don’t think any of us would build a system the way our current system is set up today,” City Councilor Ed Suslovic said Tuesday. “It’s a chance to step back and say
Portland City Council approves homeless shelter task force
PORTLAND – The future of city homeless shelters will be examined and evaluated by a new task force created by a unanimous vote of city councilors Monday. Councilors also approved easements to allow installation of natural gas lines to the Portland Technology Park off Rand Road near the Maine Turnpike, but postponed signing a two-part
Protecting our youth, ending human trafficking
This past New Year’s Eve, a man and woman were arrested in Bangor for allegedly forcing a 13-year-old Maine girl into prostitution. This child, who was listed as a missing person, was being sold for sex through ads on the Internet. A Bangor police officer, posing as a John, arranged online to meet the girl
Maine Calling: Human Trafficking
Combating sex trafficking internationally and in Maine. Guests: Ruchira Gupta, Founder and President of ApneAap Women Worldwide , a grassroots organization that has helped thousands of women access safe housing, education, job training and other resources. Meg Elam, Assistant District Attorney, Cumberland County Fiona Mason, Director of Social Work, Preble Street dee Clarke, trafficking survivor
Portland to consider expanding, privatizing homeless shelter
The Portland City Council on Monday night agreed to study consolidating, expanding and privatizing the city’s Oxford Street Homeless Shelter, currently Maine’s largest and only municipally run shelter. The word "privatizing" often brings to mind situations where governments hand over the management of public institutions to private corporations, under the auspice that the corporations can
Portland’s fight with state over shelter costs puts focus on ‘broken system’ statewide
Mark Swann, executive director of Preble Street in Portland, said that on any given night the state’s 42 shelters are housing roughly 1,000 Mainers. "We desperately need your help," Swann told lawmakers Monday. "We’re turning people away each night. Shelter directors, I can tell you, we all hold our breath knowing how dangerously understaffed we
Homeless Advocates Seek Additional Funding for Maine Shelters
AUGUSTA, Maine – Homeless advocates from across the state lined up to support legislation that would provide an additional $3.5 million a year for homeless shelters. Advocates say they’re not sure that additional funding is enough to handle the demands facing 42 shelters across the state that have about 1,000 people a night seeking a
Homeless in Portland don’t choose to converge in shelters
Editor: At 8 p.m. last night it was 12 degrees. And it’s March – not January. Together we’ve experienced one of the longest, most frigid, and snowiest winters in history. I don’t really want to talk about the weather. But I do want each of us to stop for a second and think about a
