Avesta Housing, the largest nonprofit affordable housing provider in northern New England, and Preble Street, a nonprofit social work agency serving the most vulnerable people in Maine, have announced plans to provide Site-based Housing First permanent housing with on-site support services to chronically homeless people on the site of the former Oxford Street homeless shelter … Read more
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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The mission of Preble Street is to provide accessible barrier-free services to empower people experiencing problems with homelessness, housing, hunger, and poverty, and to advocate for solutions to these problems.
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