“These programs serve as success stories where some of our most vulnerable are given the hand up they need to move beyond a survival-based existence focused on the next bathroom break, meal, or long cold night to live healthier, happier, and more productive lives.” –
Mike Sauschuck, Commissioner for the Department of Public Safety
At Logan Place, Florence House, and Huston Commons – all run by Preble Street in partnership with Avesta Housing and Portland Housing Authority – tenants each have their own permanent efficiency apartment and casework staff provide 24-hour supportive services to maximize housing stability and prevent returns to homelessness. These Site-based Housing First programs are not only the solution to chronic homelessness, but also save the community money.
Jeffrey, a tenant at a Preble Street Site-based Housing First program, shares “No ifs, ands, or buts about it. We need more places like this. Outside is no place to live.”
Site-based Housing First focuses on individuals who have been homeless time and time again (or continuously for years) and who have untreated mental health or substance use disorders. When living on the streets, they often have frequent interactions with emergency services – including police and emergency rooms – that are traumatic for them and costly for the community. Once they are provided an apartment in a supportive environment without barriers to housing, these interactions decrease dramatically or stop altogether, and individuals can start rebuilding their lives.
Everybody deserves housing and the support necessary to maintain it. It’s time to invest in more Site-Based Housing First programs throughout Maine and thanks to Governor Mills, House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, the Joint Housing Committee, and the many other advocates who are leading the way forward, Maine will now have more resources to end chronic homelessness.
“Knowing that my father had a place to live meant that in the winter when the temperatures dipped below zero, I knew he was warm. It meant that I knew where to find him, so I could send him letters and visit. It meant that he had reliable access to a telephone and could call his children. It meant that he was eating more and walking better. It meant that he had a bed. And a toilet. And a shower. He had a home to go to, instead of a home that he carried in a knapsack.”
– Amanda Meader
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Celebrating advocacy wins
Low-barrier shelters receive funding for the next three years… On April 22, 2024, Governor Janet Mills signed the supplemental budget into law, which includes three years of $2.5M in annual funding — a total of $7.5M — to directly support emergency low-barrier shelters. This funding will be incredibly impactful for Maine’s five privately operated, low-barrier
19 years of Site-based Housing First at Logan Place
“For me, eventually, is a key word. It’s my first apartment in 14 years,” shares Kabir. Kabir is the newest resident of Logan Place, Maine’s first Site-based Housing First building, which opened 19 years ago this month. Logan Place has 30 efficiency apartments, with 24-hour on-site support for adults who have experienced chronic homelessness. Kabir
The Importance of Low-Barrier Shelters in Our Community
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 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 staff
