Preble Street is excited to announce a new partnership with Maine Needs that will support both organizations’ goal to meet the basic needs of Mainers experiencing homelessness or who have recently moved out of homelessness. As of April 18, 2025, Preble Street will no longer accept individual in-kind, non-food donations. All clothing, hygiene, and household … Read more
During our 50 years in operation, Preble Street has had to adapt to changing needs and a shifting landscape many times. Never was this truer than in the days, months, and years that followed March 16, 2020. Five years ago this month, while the world was urged to stay home, a question loomed over staff … Read more
On Friday, December 20, Portland held a vigil to remember the friends from the Greater Portland homeless community who died in 2024. On one of the longest nights of the year, a candlelit procession marched from the MaineHealth-Preble Street Learning Collaborative to Monument Square. To honor the 50 friends and community members who were lost … Read more
Hope House is Bangor’s largest shelter and Maine’s only low-barrier shelter north of Waterville. Bangor, ME (November 12, 2024) — The Hope House Emergency Shelter is a low-barrier 56-bed emergency shelter in Bangor. Penobscot Community Health Center (PCHC) announced in fall 2023 that due to financial considerations it would close Hope House in fall 2024 … Read more
Photo caption: Leanne Pomeroy, Director of Rapid Re-Housing, Preble Street; Zakk Maher, Deputy Director of Business & Community Development, City of Auburn, Maine; Mayor Jeff Harmon, City of Auburn, Maine; and Erin Kelly, Senior Director of Social Work, Preble Street gather to launch Rapid Rehousing in Lewiston-Auburn. On Monday, August 12, 2024, Preble Street officially … Read more
For 14 years, Kabir was homeless in Portland. But today, he is safely housed at Logan Place, Maine’s first Site-based Housing First program which opened 19 years ago. Kabir’s time on the streets was tough. “There is no break when you’re homeless. There’s no door to close,” he shared. Living outside led to numerous health … Read more
The Street Outreach Collaborative (SOC), Preble Street’s mobile outreach team, focuses primarily on people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, with the highest need. The SOC drives around Portland in a blue, Preble Street branded van, (you’ve probably seen it!) looking to meet basic needs and distribute nutritious meals to people. Basic needs are the foundation for a … Read more
Although we don’t have a vaccine for mental health or substance use disorders, we do have practical and effective solutions. They are the effective and evidence-based practices we know work — access to treatment, harm reduction services, mental health support, peer support groups, and perhaps most importantly, educating our community to reduce stigma and promote … Read more
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 homelessness 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 … Read more
Maine is experiencing a homelessness crisis, and our critical low-barrier shelters may close without sustainable and ongoing funding. The Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs just approved one-time funding for low-barrier shelters. We thank the AFA Committee for their support; however, emergency and low-barrier shelters need ongoing, annual funding to remain open and operational. We need … 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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