Category: Advocacy Programs - Page 3

Help the helpers

November 2, 2023October 31, 2023

Preble Street has many connections to Lewiston – big and small. We have an office in Lewiston, staff who live in the community and who knew the victims, friends and family who live in Lewiston, clients who have found housing and inclusion from the Lewiston community, and many partners who do amazing work on behalf of Lewiston’s hungry, impoverished, and homeless communities. We mourn those whose lives were cut short and are devastated by this senseless act of violence and the way its impacts will linger for so long.

Tell the City Council to lower barriers to shelter and STOP THE SWEEPS!

September 22, 2023

The Portland City Council is taking public comment about encampment sweeps at their meeting this Tuesday, September 26, at 5pm. Please attend and make your voices heard, OR email them before September 25 at 12pm to ensure your comments are included in their packets! Last week, Preble Street shared our recommendations for action steps on how to solve … Read more

Addressing Portland’s Unsheltered Homelessness: Viable Solutions

September 26, 2023September 15, 2023

Portland, Maine, has a unique opportunity to drastically decrease encampment and unsheltered numbers with the opening of the new Riverside shelter and its 179 new beds. Read Preble Street’s seven action steps to address this public health, housing, and shelter crisis.

TAKE ACTION to support our unsheltered neighbors!

September 14, 2023September 13, 2023

Portland is facing an unprecedented crisis in unsheltered homelessness, and encampment sweeps do not solve the problem. Instead, these sweeps traumatize the already vulnerable people living in these encampments and create another spike in needed items like tents and clothing as bulldozers and trash trucks take away their few possessions. There have not been nearly … Read more

Statement on encampment clearing at Fore River Parkway from Preble Street Advocacy Supervisor

September 15, 2023September 8, 2023

My name is Taylor Cray and I am the Advocacy Supervisor at Preble Street. I am writing to reiterate a sentiment that has been shared by outreach workers, service providers, and community members alike regarding the clearing of the encampment on the Fore River Trail. This sweep took place despite repeated pleas from community … Read more

Avesta Housing and Preble Street applaud the signing of legislation to end chronic homelessness through Site-based Housing First programs

July 28, 2023July 11, 2023

Photo: In March, members of the Joint Housing Committee visited Huston Commons to learn more about Site-based Housing First. Avesta Housing and Preble Street applaud the signing of the budget package by Governor Janet Mills and its inclusion of funding to support the creation of more Site-based Housing First programs across Maine. This funding will … Read more

LAST CALL: Please ask members of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee to support funding for LD1781: An Act to Establish the Homeless Substance Use Disorder Service Program!

July 11, 2023July 7, 2023

The Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee is meeting on July 11, 2023, at 2:30 pm to decide funding priorities! Can you reach out to members RIGHT NOW to let them know how LD 1781: An Act to Establish the Homeless Substance Use Disorder Service Program will help ensure that the most vulnerable Mainers have the … Read more

TAKE ACTION: Tell legislators to override the Governor’s veto!

July 3, 2023

Last week, Governor Mills vetoed the Wabanaki Tribal Sovereignty bill. This veto can be overridden if two-thirds of the Maine State Legislature votes for the override. Why is this legislation so important? A 2022 Harvard study found, “Unique to Maine, the federal Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (MICSA) empowers the state government to … Read more

Legislative wins!

March 11, 2024June 29, 2023

UPDATE: On Tuesday, July 11, 2023, Governor Janet Mills signed into law a historic budget package, which contains funding for the Food Security Hub, emergency shelter funding, funding for affordable housing, and Site-based Housing First! So many people who are part of Preble Street played a role in securing these legislative wins – it took … Read more

Fixing the broken systems that are costing lives

July 19, 2023June 28, 2023

“Please remember that our unhoused community members are humans. They’re part of our community and they’re our neighbors. They deserve compassion. They deserve safety. They deserve advocacy, and they deserve housing,” shared Portland City Councilor Victoria Pelletier at the 2023 Longest Day of Homelessness Sit-in organized by Homeless Voices for Justice. “They deserve resources. They … Read more