OUR MISSION
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 shelters to a permanent home, Preble Street programs not only meet urgent needs but also create solutions to homelessness and hunger.
Who We Serve
The people we meet come from every background. Some were born into abject poverty and abuse. Others were born into a loving and stable family, but life’s circumstances dictated a wildly unanticipated course.
OUR ANNUAL IMPACT
Preble Street is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that depends on the generosity of friends who lend their time and their resources. Every gift you make, every hour you spend, helps those most in need.
LATEST NEWS
Maine Needs and Preble Street Announce Partnership to Help More Mainers Meet their Basic Needs
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
Preble Street Earth Day Bayside Clean-up – April 22, 2025
Join Preble Street on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, for a neighborhood clean-up from 9-11 am, followed by a community barbeque from 11am-1pm. We’ll meet at 55 Portland Street, Portland, Maine. Thanks for all your help!
TAKE ACTION TODAY: Ensure Mainers stay housed and can access basic needs
General Assistance is a statewide program that helps Mainers in crisis meet basic needs. This temporary, emergency relief program is administered by municipalities across the state, and serves as a last resort for people facing extreme hardship, allowing them to afford food, diapers, medicine, rent, heat, electricity, or other necessities. TAKE ACTION This Monday, April 7,
Five Years Later: How Preble Street’s Response to COVID-19 Shaped Its Future
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
Food Is a Human Right: Protecting Access to Nutrition in Maine
In honor of National Nutrition Month, we take a look at the emergency food system in Maine. Food pantries and anti-hunger non-profits like Preble Street play an important role in ensuring people experiencing food insecurity have consistent access to healthy and nutritious food. Since opening in 1975, Preble Street has worked to ensure that everyone
50 years of Compassion in Action – 20 years of 24/7 supportive housing
“I feel like I’ve got a new lease on life. I can now heal. I can stretch out these last years a bit,spend time with my mother and my daughter.” – Logan Place Tenant 20 years ago, on March 24, 2005, Preble Street and Avesta Housing opened Logan Place, the first permanent supportive housing program
FEATURED STORIES
Brian’s story
Brian Hester is a proud Marine Corps Veteran. If you ask, he’ll tell you he “loved every minute” of his two-and-a-half years of service with the Marines. But, like many Veterans in Maine and all over the U.S., Brian cycled in and out
Peter’s Story
Peter was homeless for eight months, sleeping on the street and in different shelters in Augusta and Lewiston. He’s an Air Force Veteran, originally from Madawaska, Maine, who lost housing when his landlord increased his rent with only a month’s notice. “I had
Ron’s Story
“I’ll say it 1000 times over, the VA saved my life,” shares Ron. Ron is a former U.S. Marine. He currently lives at a residential facility in Lewiston, Maine, operated by Veteran’s Inc., a nonprofit that provides support services to Veterans and Veteran families
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Every week 350 community volunteers lend a hand at Preble Street and almost 100% of the food and clothing we distribute is donated. We welcome — we depend on — your time, financial support, and in-kind donations. Volunteering at one meal a year, once in a while, or every week; donating work boots for someone trying to turn their life around, or organizing a fundraiser — every gift you give helps those most in need.
