18-unit affordable housing complex opens in Portland

PORTLAND, Maine —A number of formerly homeless veterans now have a place to call home, thanks to a new property in Portland. Thomas Heights held its grand opening celebration Wednesday. The 18-unit affordable housing property is on Washington Avenue. The building was named for Thomas Ptacek, an advocate for homeless veterans. With a shortage in … Read more

Taking affordable housing to new "Heights"

PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Formerly homeless veterans are getting a new lease on life thanks to an affordable housing project in Portland. “Thomas Heights” is an 18-unit efficiency apartment building, with five of those units housing previously homeless vets. Avesta Housing was able to complete the $3.6 million dollar project with help from city … Read more

New 18-unit building in Portland designed to house low-income veterans

Thomas Heights, an 18-unit building of efficiency apartments intended for low-income and homeless veterans, will have a grand opening Wednesday in Portland. The $3.6 million project at 134 Washington Ave. was led by the nonprofit Avesta Housing, the state’s largest developer of affordable housing. Thomas Heights is named after Thomas Ptacek, a local advocate for … Read more

It looks like there are more homeless veterans in Maine. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story

At first glance, statistics on the number of veterans in Maine who are homeless seem to point to a troubling trend. From 2008 to 2015, the number of homeless identified as veterans jumped 70 percent in Maine, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which annually organizes a census of the country’s … Read more

King supports bill to house homeless college students

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Sen. Angus King is speaking out in favor of a bill that would make it easier for homeless college students to find housing. The Low Income Housing Tax Credit gives tax breaks to developers that build affordable housing. The current law does not allow tenants of those properties to be … Read more

Maine Voices: Homeless veterans have an ally

On any given night in America, more than 63,000 veterans have nowhere to call home and sleep in shelters, on the streets, in abandoned buildings or in the woods. One of them – a man discharged from the Army in the 1980s – spent much of his adult life homeless, sleeping in his truck, in … Read more

First Lady Issues Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness

First lady Michelle Obama announced a new commitment to end veteran homelessness. Part of the Joining Forces Initiative, the commitment includes 77 mayors, four governors, and four county officials to end veteran homelessness by 2015. The first lady was introduced by Chris Fuentes, a war veteran who lived in her car briefly after returning from Iraq. Housing … Read more

Homelessness in the U.S. is a national disgrace

On Wednesday, Phil Allen, who is the veterans housing service manager for the Portland-based Preble Street Resource Center, discovered a man who had been living in his car for the past four months. The man wasn’t found in Portland. He was found in Oxford Hills as Allen and dozens of other social workers and housing … Read more

Portland resource center lands $1.7 million in federal aid to help homeless veterans

PORTLAND, Maine – The Preble Street Resource Center will receive almost $1.7 million in federal funding to work with homeless veterans and veterans at risk of becoming homeless, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree announced Thursday. The federal funding award is the largest ever received by the organization, which has been providing services to homeless people and … Read more