What is "housing first"?

…with housing first, people are given a safe, stable place to live and offered support, whether its for substance use disorder, mental illness, physical health or employment training. “We really feel housing is itself therapeutic,” said Hillary Colcord, the director of Huston Commons, a housing-first facility in Portland. Portland has three separate developments dedicated to … Read more

Bringing permanent supportive housing to Bangor

Earlier this year, Preble Street celebrated 20 years of permanent housing programs with 24-hour social work support. Could there be a better way to honor the impact of Logan Place, Florence House, and Huston Commons than to see the momentum towards similar programs across the state?   Preble Street has been selected as the social service … Read more

50 years of Compassion in Action – 20 years of 24/7 supportive housing

“I feel like I’ve got a new lease on life. I can now heal. I can stretch out these last years a bit,spend time with my mother and my daughter.” – Logan Place Tenant 20 years ago, on March 24, 2005, Preble Street and Avesta Housing opened Logan Place, the first permanent supportive housing program … Read more

The first 24/7 Preble Street program in Bangor

A sad reality of emergency shelters is that they are always at risk of closing their doors. Over the past fifteen years, at least nine shelters in Maine have closed due to funding issues.  Site-based Housing First is the long-term permanent housing solution for many of the people in Maine experiencing chronic homelessness, but until the … Read more

Rapid Re-Housing is expanding services to reach more Mainers

From July to October of this year, the Preble Street Rapid Re-Housing program (RRH) helped to move 18 individuals into permanent housing. This represents ten different households or families, moving from the street or a shelter into a warm, safe, and permanent home. No matter a person’s race, income, or where they’re from, everyone needs a home, and … Read more

Rapid Re-Housing opens in Lewiston-Auburn

Photo caption: Leanne Pomeroy, Director of Rapid Re-Housing, Preble Street; Zakk Maher, Deputy Director of Business & Community Development, City of Auburn, Maine; Mayor Jeff Harmon, City of Auburn, Maine; and Erin Kelly, Senior Director of Social Work, Preble Street gather to launch Rapid Rehousing in Lewiston-Auburn. On Monday, August 12, 2024, Preble Street officially … Read more

Housing People Takes Investment, Not Magic

We have said before that the reasons why people experience homelessness are complex, but the solutions are not. Ensuring that people can access stable and safe housing and maintain that housing is the solution to homelessness. Preble Street created its Rapid Re-Housing program (RRH) in 2020 to move more people from homelessness to permanent housing. … Read more

Low-Barrier Shelter Funding Testimony by Mark Swann to Joint Select Committee on Housing

Delivered December 5, 2023 Good morning, Senator Pierce, Representative Gere, and members of the Joint Committee on Housing, thank you so much for inviting me to speak to you today. My name is Mark Swann, and I am the Executive Director at Preble Street, a nonprofit human service agency with over fifteen programs serving the … Read more