…Consider this calculation: One night this winter, 282 people lined up at the Oxford Street Shelter in hopes of getting one of 142 thin, foam rubber mats to sleep on. Of the unlucky, 75 were able to sleep on the floor of the Preble Street soup kitchen. The rest spent the night sitting up in … Read more
…"The state has not lived up to its responsibility to help people with severe mental illness," said Mark Swann, the executive director of Preble Street, a Portland nonprofit that provides assistance to the homeless. Some also point to the state’s successful efforts to trim the number of people who receive health coverage through MaineCare, the … Read more
PORTLAND, Maine – Elected officials and homeless advocates held a news conference in Portland this morning to defend the city’s administration of General Assistance funds. A recent state audit accused the city of mismanaging GA funds, after finding that more than a dozen residents at one of the city’s homeless shelters had more than $20,000 … Read more
PORTLAND, Maine – Portland Democrats and social services leaders came out swinging Friday morning, saying a recent state audit claiming the city mismanages its General Assistance program is part of a "coordinated attack" on the liberal city by Maine’s conservative governor and his administration. State Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, led a news conference outside the … Read more
… "No one is staying in the shelters or languishing in the streets for years at a time to save money," said Mark Swann, executive director of Preble Street, a nonprofit that provides assistance to the homeless. "Shelters are not places people want to stay at if they have choices." Swann said the state is … Read more
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Social workers are defending Portland’s homeless shelter programs, after the Department of Health and Human Services released an audit of Portland’s welfare program. The audit, obtained by NEWS CENTER after a Freedom of Information Request, cited several violations. The state claims Portland is not taking income or resources into account … Read more
PORTLAND, Maine – Homeless advocates and health professionals in Portland are accusing state officials of using mentally ill homeless people as political pawns. This follows an audit by the Department of Health and Human Services that heavily criticized the city after finding several residents of a homeless shelter had significant amounts of money in the … Read more
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Volunteers were out trudging knee-deep in snow, searching for Portland’s homeless Wednesday night. It’s for the annual Point In Time Survey for the U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development. The data helps HUD allocate funding and resources to communities across the country. Homeless staying at shelters are easy to … Read more
Portland’s homeless shelters were filled to capacity Monday night as mounds of snow accumulated on streets and sidewalks and temperatures, combined with strong winds, produced what the National Weather Service described as "dangerously cold wind chills" – as low as minus 30 degrees – that were expected to last through early Tuesday. On Monday night, … Read more
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — The blizzard may have made Portland look like a ghost town, but inside the Preble Street homeless shelter, it was busy. Preble Street Associate Director Jon Bradley estimates up to 500 people went to the shelter Tuesday during the blizzard. "It was a crazy day," said Bradley. "It was packed. … Read more
