NEWS & UPDATES
Helping The Homeless With Housing For The Holidays
Preble Street Homeless Voices For Justice is working to give hundreds of Mainers a Christmas gift they say could help change lives. The group is making a big push to get more housing vouchers for the homeless in time for Christmas. They say shelters across the state are crowded and many people have no place
Mark Swann ’84 Champions the Fight Against Homelessness in Down East
“Housing first,” a revolutionary concept for ending homelessness, offers safe, permanent housing to the chronically homeless as a first resort rather than a last-ditch effort, and then provides the services they need to treat mental illness, addictions and physical ailments. Logan Place, a collaboration between Avesta Housing and the social service agency Preble Street, is
A Clean, well-lighted place
There’s a revolution afoot to solve homelessness in America. Portland, Maine, is helping to lead the charge. How’s this for an idea: Find the thirty bleakest street cases in the city – the least loved of God’s creatures, the ones cops know by name. The ones purpled with scars, napping under loading docks, towing barges
More work needed to combat hunger in Maine
PORTLAND-One recent morning, a mother took her two young boys out for breakfast and "chose" the busiest place in town. Seventy-nine people were already standing in line, 220 more followed. It was cold and drizzly, and the boys huddled next to their mom, waiting at the Preble Street Soup Kitchen door. Heroic work happens every
Hundreds line up for new L.L. Bean store
FREEPORT(NEWS CENTER) — Hundreds of people showed up Saturday for the grand opening of the new LL Bean Home Store in Freeport. Melissa Zuk said she got to the store at 9 p.m. and was first in line for the opening. The incentive? The store was giving away gift cards to the first 500 customers.
Here's hoping…
Ask a dozen Mainers what they want as a holiday gift, and you’ll get a dozen different answers, right? Well, not this year. In this season of hope, we asked a wide variety of Mainers – a sheep farmer, a museum director, a member of Congress and others – what they would put at the
Homeless women to get shelter in Portland
PORTLAND-Huddled in the freezing cold in a dark alleyway the 25 or so people who stood on a barren, snow-covered parking lot could have been mistaken for a gathering of homeless people. Instead, the group of homeless advocates, which included Gov. John Baldacci, spent a few minutes Tuesday night reflecting on their four-year-long effort to
State of Maine cost study of rural homelessnes
AUGUSTA, MAINE. The first statewide cost study of homelessness and housing in rural areas was released this week when the State of Maine unveiled the results of research on the cost and frequency of services used by people with disabilities who were homeless before entering a permanent housing program. Rural homeless people with disabilities who
Help on the way for Maine food pantries
PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER) — The United Way of Greater Portland has teamed up with the Preble Street Resource Center to raise 275-thousand dollars to replenish the shelves of food pantries statewide. It’s called Food For ME. A number of corporate sponsors have made generous donations, says the United Way’s Meg Baxter. They include the King
Rally gives voice to homeless
PORTLAND – The pelting rain and ankle-deep puddles may have kept the crowd small in Monument Square on Friday, but it was perfect weather to demonstrate the plight of the city’s homeless residents. Preble Street, which provides services to the homeless and poor, held a rally calling on people to help end homelessness. While only
Concert aims to ease burden on homeless
It was in the dead of fall and on the cusp of winter when John Ripley first heard the statistics about homeless deaths in Portland – 21 homeless died here in 2008. By Christmas, Ripley, who works in advertising, decided to do something about it. On Sunday, May 17, the idea he sprouted will run
Action to aid homeless attracts help
PORTLAND – When someone references Live Aid, it’s usuallynecessary to tell them I was 5 years old when the multi-city benefit concert took place. Still, John Ripley is as sincere as a grade school love note when he talks about Acts for Change, which will be held Sunday. It’s a local festival to benefit the
