“The turning point came when my father was accepted at Huston Commons. This housing development … provided more than just shelter; it offered a comprehensive support system tailored to the needs of my dad. At Huston Commons, my father found safety, stability, and a community that helped him rebuild his life. The onsite support services, including harm reduction and crisis intervention, were crucial in helping him regain his health and dignity. Over time, he reestablished relationships with his children and grandchildren, made new friends, and significantly reduced his hospital visits. His story transformed from one of despair to one of hope and recovery. Not only did his life drastically improve, but he became far less of a burden on the city of Portland and the hospital systems.”
On the night of March 24, 2005, there was a 10% drop in homelessness for the City of Portland, and a 5% drop for the entire state of Maine. That day, Logan Place had opened its doors, and 30 of Maine’s most chronically homeless people moved in.
21 years later, Logan Place continues to provide long-term, permanent housing and on-site 24/7 social work services for people who have been homeless time and time again (or continuously for years). Nearly 100 people over the past two decades have found safety and stability in their home there. And now, the model that has helped so many people at Logan Place – and at Florence House and Huston Commons, all pioneered in partnership between Preble Street and Avesta Housing – is the model for Maine’s expanding Home for Good program.
Maine’s Home for Good program is a scalable way to address the state’s homelessness crisis in both rural and urban areas. Established by Governor Mills in 2023, Home for Good will greatly increase the resources available for people who have experienced chronic homelessness and who have untreated mental health or substance use disorders. These individuals are most likely to return to homelessness after being housed. They also have the highest use of emergency services, including emergency shelters, police, ambulance services, and emergency rooms, which decreases the capacity and increases costs for emergency systems. Successfully housing people who have been chronically homeless helps to relieve stress on the entire system and allows communities to more efficiently use existing resources.
“We’ve seen how providing access to around-the-clock care from supportive social work staff allows clients who never had a permanent place to call home before stay housed,” shares Mark Swann, Executive Director of Preble Street. “For more than 20 years, the staff and tenants at Logan Place, Florence House, and Huston Commons, have been showing us day after day that this is the way to make a difference. These programs are the foundation for Maine’s entire Home for Good initiative, and we are invested in keeping these programs strong for years to come, while working to bring this solution into communities across Maine.”
MaineHousing issued the first round of Home for Good awards in April 2025, providing $20 million in state funding for five projects in Sanford, Portland, Augusta, Auburn, and Bangor that will create a combined 138 units of housing. The second round of awards will fund three new projects in Bangor, Portland, and South Portland for 92 additional housing units to address chronic homelessness in Maine. All projects are in the planning stage now and will begin opening in the next 2-3 years.
Preble Street will be providing the 24/7 social work services for 4 out of the 8 projects announced: one in Portland with Avesta Housing, two in Bangor with Bangor Housing Authority, and one in South Portland with the South Portland Housing Authority.
People moving from chronic homelessness into housing have more complex needs. Preble Street works hard to ensure that the support this vulnerable community needs is available and accessible. It is in the best interest of the tenant, the neighborhood, and the community at large for us to solve problems in whatever way we can to keep people housed. This is how we can ensure that people don’t become homeless again.
Maine’s Home for Good initiative is thanks to the efforts and leadership of many people: Governor Mills and Senator Rachel Talbot Ross (during her time serving as House Speaker); Greg Payne, Senior Advisor, Housing Policy for the Governor; and members of Maine’s 131st Legislature, especially Representative Drew Gattine and members of the Joint Housing Committee, especially its chairs Senator Teresa Pierce and Representative Traci Gere.