What We Do

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. OUR PROGRAMS From a nutritious meal to crisis intervention, from clean clothes to healthcare, from shelter to a permanent home, Preble Street programs not only … Read more

Ryan’s Story

Over the summer, Teen Services staff and youth collaborated with Cultivating Community to plant and harvest a garden in the Teen Center courtyard. Tomatoes, strawberries, rhubarb, herbs, and an assortment of flowers all flourished, and much of the food was harvested and used by Preble Street Food Programs to prepare meals for the youth to … Read more

A simple change could give Maine's hungry rural people more food

… Over the past year, Good Shepherd Food Bank and Preble Street have undertaken the first research effort of its kind to better understand trends of hunger and food pantry usage in Maine. The results from more than 2,000 surveys completed in 244 towns in every county show how much Mainers are depending on local … Read more

‘Hunger is all around us’

Holidays in America are centered around food. While many dream for weeks of sugarplums, ham and the perfect table settings, approximately 48 million more are thinking of food in a different light: Will there be enough to go around? Of those people, 208,000 live here in Maine, which ranks 12th in the nation and first … Read more

WERU Special: Solving Chronic Homelessness

In Portland, Maine, Preble Street marks the 10th year of its housing-first project, which aims to solve, not simply address, the problem of chronic homelessness. Two staff members at Logan Place help define the housing-first model and explore its effectiveness as a therapeutic intervention, which transforms lives. Logan Place, Preble Street’s first residential housing project, … Read more

Survey hopes to quantify Maine's homeless youth

PORTLAND – Social service provider Preble Street is conducting a first-ever count of homeless and runaway youth in Maine. The count, which began May 18 and will last a week, was funded by a $35,000 grant from the Butler Family Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based foundation that focuses on inequalities of homelessness and the criminal justice … Read more

Task Force to Propose Changes for Portland Homeless Shelter

PORTLAND (WGME) — Portland’s City Council voted unanimously Monday to create a task force that will assess Portland’s Oxford Street Homeless Shelter. “I don’t think any of us would build a system the way our current system is set up today,” City Councilor Ed Suslovic said Tuesday. “It’s a chance to step back and say … Read more