Portland, Maine, has a unique opportunity to drastically decrease encampment and unsheltered numbers with the opening of the new Riverside shelter and its 179 new beds. Read Preble Street’s seven action steps to address this public health, housing, and shelter crisis.
Portland is facing an unprecedented crisis in unsheltered homelessness, and encampment sweeps do not solve the problem. Instead, these sweeps traumatize the already vulnerable people living in these encampments and create another spike in needed items like tents and clothing as bulldozers and trash trucks take away their few possessions. There have not been nearly … Read more
Photo: In March, members of the Joint Housing Committee visited Huston Commons to learn more about Site-based Housing First. Avesta Housing and Preble Street applaud the signing of the budget package by Governor Janet Mills and its inclusion of funding to support the creation of more Site-based Housing First programs across Maine. This funding will … Read more
“Please remember that our unhoused community members are humans. They’re part of our community and they’re our neighbors. They deserve compassion. They deserve safety. They deserve advocacy, and they deserve housing,” shared Portland City Councilor Victoria Pelletier at the 2023 Longest Day of Homelessness Sit-in organized by Homeless Voices for Justice. “They deserve resources. They … Read more
How did you get involved with Preble Street? I came to the Preble Street board in 2005 via Stone Soup, a Preble Street subsidiary whose mission was to train folks in the culinary arts. When I joined the board, I think I was one of four lawyers. At first, I wondered what I could contribute. … Read more
The chalk writing on the doors near the Bayside Trail says, “I’m so ignorant to think we’d make it out of this thing TOGETHER…or alive.” The hearts surrounding the message give hope, but the ‘or alive’ just scratches the surface of the despair we all feel knowing that there is no ready, short-term solution for … Read more
The people who have been living at the Bayside Trail encampment deserve dignity and safety. No one should have to sleep outside in Maine or in unsafe or unhealthy conditions. Everyone should have access to toilets and safe drinking water and a roof over their heads. Preble Street will continue to work with the City … Read more
The encampment on the Bayside Trail is a visual representation of the fact that we are in the midst of a homelessness crisis, a crisis that is occurring all across Maine, not just here in Portland. It is absolutely devastating that so many people are left living outside and unsheltered due to a massive shortage … Read more
Daniella’s relationship with Preble Street began when she was a teen in the 1990s. She donated food to the agency through her school and volunteered in the old Resource Center Soup Kitchen with her family. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be involved in social work. For her senior project in high … Read more
Update 2/2/2023: Warming shelters will be available in the Portland area from Friday February 3 to Sunday February 5. The City of Portland, along with community partners and volunteers, will staff a temporary overnight shelter at the Salvation Army’s gymnasium at 297 Cumberland Avenue. The overnight warming shelter will be available from 3pm on Friday, … Read more
