Hunger stories come out of hiding

CASCO – The person who worries about being hungry, who doesn’t always have enough food or enough money to pay for food during the entire month – that person could be your neighbor. It was a neighbor, a resident of Sweden, who stood before the microphone at a recent fundraiser for area food pantries and … Read more

Congress needs to act so Maine’s LGBT homeless youth can get help

Not many issues are bipartisan these days, but thankfully, ending youth homelessness is one of them. In July, Sen. Susan Collins, along with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, introduced critical legislation that reauthorizes the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, or RHYA, which provides critical support to organizations such as Preble Street that in turn help some … Read more

Plan to Restrict SNAP Benefits in Maine Meets Strong Opposition

AUGUSTA, Maine – Advocates for the low-income, veterans and the homeless turned out in Augusta to express their strong opposition to a proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services to cut off food stamps or SNAP benefits to able-bodied, childless adults after three months unless they work 20 hours a week, volunteer or … Read more

Panhandling on the Rise

The shrewdness of panhandling on a median strip at a busy intersection is that it places the panhandler on the driver’s side of vehicles when they stop at red lights. Cities all over the country have seen a rise in recent years in roadside panhandlers, and Maine cities are no exception. Motorists in Portland have … 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

Homeless improv group focus of 'drama therapy' talk

After a year of field research, the creators of "Off the Cuff," an improv theater group for the homeless, will present their findings at an upcoming college conference. Tommy Waltz, a student at the University of Southern Maine’s School of Social Work, came up with the idea of bringing weekly acting classes to clients of … Read more

Advocate for homeless kicks off common good leadership series

"I was driving back from Boston, gripping the wheel, thinking to myself, ‘Be careful what you wish for’," Mark Swann ’84 said, describing the advent of his remarkable career to a roomful of students at the McKeen Center. While Swann dreamed of being able to make an impact on the most needy, he also knew … Read more

Portland clinic to provide free legal aid to homeless

PORTLAND – People who are homeless will soon not have to also be lawyer-less. Volunteer attorneys, in partnership with Preble Street, are launching a free legal clinic for homeless individuals. The Maine Homeless Legal Project, announced at a press conference Jan. 9, is expected to be serving clients by April. Lawyers will meet with the … Read more

Welcome Home

When Ed Page found himself on the streets one cold night in Portland, Maine, the city had few services for the homeless. He found his way to an air vent, and spent the night there trying to keep warm. That was 20 years ago. As the homeless population rose in Portland, service organizations created soup … Read more