Advocacy Programs This summer, Emma Johnson ’14 received a Community Matters in Maine Summer Fellowship from Bowdoin to work for Preble Street, a Portland-based organization fighting hunger and homelessness. Executive Director Mark Swann, class of 1984, helped found Preble Street in the early 1990s, and this year was nominated for a Congressional Medal of Honor for his … Read more
PORTLAND – In response to a surge in the number of young homeless people in the city, the Preble Street Resource Center has an outreach team roaming streets and parks, connecting homeless youths to social services. The four-member team visits popular hangouts, such as Tommy’s Park and the camp sites in the woods along West … Read more
Q: I run a shelter for homeless teens. I’m thinking about moving to a “low-barrier” approach to working with youth, meaning that we won’t turn young people away because they’ve been drinking or using drugs. How can I get staff to buy into this change? A: Ingrained in every good youth worker is the idea … Read more
Panelists discuss the crucial role federal nutrition assistance plays in stemming child hunger in Maine. In half of the state’s schools, 50% or more of students are eligible for subsidized lunches. In one in seven Maine schools, 70% or more of students qualify for the National School Lunch Program. Host: Garrett Martin, MECEP Executive Director … Read more
Dianna Walters with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, Martin Zanghi with USM and Therese Cahill-Low with the DHHS Office of Child and Family Services will join in a discussion about young adults who “age out” of Foster Care. What becomes of young people with no permanent family connections? What needs to happen to give … Read more
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced this week that soup kitchens and food pantries in southern Maine will be getting some lost federal funding restored. Pingree said federal officials have agreed to dip into some unspent funds to help organizations in Cumberland County meet a growing demand for their services. Last summer, the Federal Emergency Management Agency … Read more
On the longest, and one of the hottest days of the year, one group wants to make sure we don’t forget the homeless. The Preble Street Homeless Voices for Justice was sitting out in Post Office Park on Wednesday from sunrise to sunset. The group is hoping to remind people that homelessness is not just … Read more
Nothing brings Maine’s top chefs together like a good cause, and this summer is no exception as chefs from the state’s best restaurants gather on Great Diamond Island to fight childhood hunger. The 7th Annual Taste of the Nation benefit will be held this Sunday from 3:45 to 8 p.m. at the Diamond’s Edge Restaurant, … Read more
PORTLAND – On the wall behind city Health and Human Services Director Doug Gardner’s desk is a classroom-sized whiteboard. On Monday, there were 10 high-priority projects, issues, and initiatives written on it. Five of them – emergency shelter overflow, a veteran’s affairs case worker at the Oxford Street shelter, the Homeless Task Force, a meeting … Read more
Ask any school administrator and you’ll find the sad truth is many kids today have their nutritional needs met mostly by the schools, through healthy lunches in the cafeterias and maybe snacks at other times. Busy parents and a tough economy has left many home kitchens without as frequent or nutritional a mealtime schedule. So … 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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