Portland gathers for Annual Homeless Vigil in honor of the 51 people who have died in 2022

A vigil to remember friends from the Greater Portland homeless community who have died will take place December 21 at 4:30pm. A crowd will gather in front of the MMC-Preble Street Learning Collaborative at 20 Portland Street and proceed by candlelight to Monument Square. Every year on the Winter Solstice — the longest night of homelessness … Read more

All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness

Today, the Biden-Harris administration released a federal plan for ending homelessness in America that includes an ambitious goal of reducing homelessness 25% by 2025. All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness outlines new strategies to prevent homelessness and increase the supply of housing with supportive services. “We have a homelessness crisis … Read more

Building toward a better future

Twice a day — every morning and afternoon — staff from the Street Outreach Collaborative (SOC) complete van runs, driving to various stops in Portland to provide food, clothing, and other basic needs to people living outside. These stops are also a chance for caseworkers to check in with unsheltered clients to see what other … Read more

The Impact of Social Work

“In my time working here, I’ve been able to provide people with many things. I’ve given people vouchers, I’ve helped people move into apartments, I’ve helped somebody repair their vehicle. I’ve provided all of these material things. But time and time again, when people talk to me about what was most important to them, it’s been … Read more

Portland approves plan for new shelter

Portland Press Herald The Portland Planning Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve Preble Street’s request to convert its former resource center in the city’s Bayside neighborhood into a 40-bed emergency shelter. The board heard more than two and a half hours of public comment and received hundreds of emails, mostly in support of the … Read more

Preble Street on PBS NewsHour

“We’ve always met people where they’re at in a relationship perspective. And now we’re meeting people where they’re at, physically in the community. We’re addressing people’s food insecurity but we’re also looking at all of the other needs that they have.” PBS NewsHour covered Preble Street outreach services and the need for more shelter space … Read more

Portland officials told social workers to stop publicly distributing food to those in need

Note: Preble Street continues to serve meals to those in need at several stops throughout Portland. Advocates for the homeless organized a protest on the decline of social services in Portland on Wednesday night, preparing to sleep into the night on the steps of City Hall. It comes after city officials told social workers here … Read more