NEWS & UPDATES
Portland panel urges regional solution to homelessness
PORTLAND – The mayor and city manager must work with surrounding communities to solve the city’s homelessness problem, a leader of the city’s Task Force on Homelessness said Monday. The City Council received a brief presentation about the task force’s report during a workshop session Monday at City Hall. A public hearing and council action
Surviving sex trafficking as a child, finding a voice
As a girl and a survivor of sex trafficking, dee Clarke didn’t have the words to explain what had happened to her. All she knew was “prostitute.” But that wasn’t right. It was years before she said: kidnapped, raped, tortured, trafficked. Now 55 and living in Portland, she has found the language to explain the
Homeless advocate Steve Huston leaves legacy
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — People who work with the homeless in the Greater Portland area are mourning a man they say fought tirelessly for people struggling with homelessness, poverty and addiction. 53-year old Steve Huston died unexpectedly at his home in Portland in last Thursday. Like many of the people he advocated for, Huston
King, Dill pledge support for homeless programs
PORTLAND – Independent Angus King and Democrat Cynthia Dill told members of Portland’s homeless community Thursday that they want to improve access to affordable housing and protect the social safety net. The event was sponsored by Homeless Voices for Justice and the Preble Street social services agency. King and Dill toured the agency’s facility downtown
Task force airs new strategy for helping Portland's homeless
PORTLAND – A task force has unveiled a sweeping plan for reducing homelessness in the city. The plan, still in its draft form, calls for creating a centralized process for assessing homeless people; building three, 35-unit housing facilities, and expanding case management services to better match the needs of clients. Nearly 100 people filled City
Steven Huston, 53, passionate advocate for Portland's homeless
PORTLAND – Steven Huston, a longtime advocate for Preble Street Homeless Voices for Justice, fought tirelessly for people struggling with homelessness, poverty and addiction. Huston, like those for whom he battled, struggled with alcoholism and chronic homelessness. He died unexpectedly Thursday in his recliner at his apartment on Wilmot Street in Portland. He was 53.
More girls from Maine and Portland being forced into $32 billion sex trade
PORTLAND, Maine – Young women and girls are being lured from their lives in Maine and disappearing into a dark world, where they are regularly beaten, raped and sold all over the country. According to service providers and law enforcement experts, the modern-day slave trade is not only alive in Maine, but relies on this
Homelessness task force addresses growing issue
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) – More than 300 people will seek emergency shelter in Portland tonight. And those numbers are growing. A task force has spent the last year looking for ways to address the issue and Wednesday night they shared their findings with the public. The task force believes that its recommendations can save
Task force: Big investments in homeless programs, facilities could save Greater Portland $3 million per year down the road
PORTLAND, Maine – A task force that studied homelessness in Portland over the past year is urging local stakeholders to summon the political will to fund the construction of 105 more specialized housing units for the homeless, according to its draft report. By implementing the major steps recommended in the report, which include a renewed
Grim picture of Maine's economy
Most Mainers don’t need a fresh set of statistics to tell them that the economy has languished for years. But data being released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau paints a particularly grim picture. From 2007 through 2011, the state’s median household income dropped by 7.7 percent, the number of unemployed people increased by 43
The Universal Notebook: Eat, drink and feel guilty
When I go to the supermarket these days (and that’s most days), I often find myself thinking, "How in the world can young families afford to put food on the table?" It seems to me that a typical trip to the market used to cost me $20 to $30. Now I’m spending about $50 a
Homeless veterans shouldn't be abandoned
President Abraham Lincoln vowed in his second inaugural address that it was the obligation of the United States "… to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan." But that commitment appears to have an expiration date, at least as it applies to a position established last
