What does a low-barrier shelter look like? At a time when unsheltered homelessness is increasing exponentially in our community and the shortage of low-barrier shelter beds has created a state-wide crisis, Elena’s Way and Florence House are a model for how we can take care of the most vulnerable people in our community. The staff … Read more
We have said before that the reasons why people experience homelessness are complex, but the solutions are not. Ensuring that people can access stable and safe housing and maintain that housing is the solution to homelessness. Preble Street created its Rapid Re-Housing program (RRH) in 2020 to move more people from homelessness to permanent housing. … Read more
Art is Healing “Start at the bottom and pinch and turn uncluttered. And slowly work your way up. And you want a pretty thin wall.” It’s a cold Wednesday morning in January, but inside Elena’s Way Wellness Shelter, it’s bright and warm. In the shared area, tables are pulled together, and 10 clients and staff … Read more
TONIGHT, February 7, the South Portland City Council will vote whether to allow hotels in their town to continue serving as emergency shelters until April 30. If denied, many of the individuals and families staying at these hotels will be evicted this month and will need to sleep outside or in their vehicles. This extension … Read more
There was a quiet, almost mellow, feel at the new Sullivan Wellness Shelter at the University of Southern Maine on a recent afternoon when I stopped by to check out how things were going there. A few clients were playing cards – at a safe distance, around a large table – a couple others were … Read more
The Preble Street social service agency opened a 50-bed, around-the-clock shelter inside a University of Southern Maine gymnasium to ease overcrowding at the city-run Oxford Street Shelter. Read more…
The University of Southern Maine’s Sullivan Gymnasium will open Friday as a temporary homeless shelter due to the coronavirus outbreak in the state. The University of Maine System partnered with Preble Street to create the 50-bed shelter. Preble Street is operating the shelter with the help of the Maine State Housing Authority and the Maine … Read more
The University of Southern Maine says it will partner with Preble Street to convert the Sullivan Gymnasium on the school’s Portland campus to a temporary 24-hour shelter for people experiencing homelessness. In a press release, USM says the shelter will open as soon as possible, and that it is to stay open as long as social distancing guidelines … Read more
They will not call it a shelter. It will be a “healing center” because, when you’re dealing with women whose lives have descended into violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and other traumas, that’s precisely what they need. “They’re the most vulnerable women we serve,” Daniella Cameron, senior director of Teen Services and Anti-Trafficking Services at … Read more
Reducing assistance for poor people in the U.S. is a centerpiece of the budget the Trump administration unveiled Tuesday. It calls for huge cuts to Medicaid, Social Security disability payments, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, food assistance and other anti-poverty programs. It also would pass more responsibility for many of these programs to states and … Read more
