Despite having had exposure to poor people in her home country of Nepal, Apekshya Prasai ’16 said she was stunned when she arrived at Bowdoin and witnessed the suffering of some of Maine’s homeless. Last fall, Prasai volunteered to do community service on her first-year orientation trip, and then she signed up to participate in … Read more
Charles Jones sleeps every night in the Oxford Street Shelter’s "medical dorm," so called because the room is reserved for up to 16 men in poor health. He’s 55 years old, the average age of the men in the room. They’re allowed inside the shelter a half-hour early, so they can avoid the long lines … Read more
PORTLAND – Friends and supporters of the city’s homeless population gathered on the longest night of the year last Friday to read, one by one, the first names and last initials of the 30 Portland-area homeless people who died this year. This was one of the hardest years on record for these people, according to … Read more
PORTLAND, Maine – Members of a Portland homeless advocacy group turned to a familiar holiday prop Monday in an effort to dispel what they said are common misconceptions about people living in shelters or on the streets. Representatives of Homeless Voices for Justice unveiled an eight-foot-tall house-shaped Advent calendar, in which 10 doors and windows … Read more
As a midcoast Maine homeless shelter closes, another one further south prepares to open its doors. Next month the Joe Kreisler Teen Shelter opens in Portland. The 24-bed shelter, run by the Preble Street Resource Center, is the culmination of a $4.5 million fundraising campaign. The Kreisler shelter replaces the existing Lighthouse Teen Shelter, which … Read more
PORTLAND – Crystal Swain immediately noticed the new mattresses at Preble Street Resource Center’s Joe Kreisler Teen Shelter. “These beds are so much better,” the 19-year-old exclaimed as she sat down for an interview Monday. The $3 million shelter at 38 Preble St. – with its 24 new beds – is set to open in … Read more
When she was 19, Peggy Lynch embarked on her first social service role, staffing the crisis hotline for what was then Ingraham Volunteers. Now, Lynch has been an outreach worker with Preble Street, an agency that offers services for the homeless, for 12 years and she has no qualms about hiking out to an encampment … Read more
TOGUS — A few years ago, Mark Seger was living what he describes as an upper-middle-class lifestyle. He had a family, a job and even a little money in the bank. That all changed in 2010, when Seger’s marriage ended in divorce, the company where he worked was sold and closed, and the trailer he … Read more
PORTLAND – A task force has unveiled a sweeping plan for reducing homelessness in the city. The plan, still in its draft form, calls for creating a centralized process for assessing homeless people; building three, 35-unit housing facilities, and expanding case management services to better match the needs of clients. Nearly 100 people filled City … Read more
PORTLAND – Steven Huston, a longtime advocate for Preble Street Homeless Voices for Justice, fought tirelessly for people struggling with homelessness, poverty and addiction. Huston, like those for whom he battled, struggled with alcoholism and chronic homelessness. He died unexpectedly Thursday in his recliner at his apartment on Wilmot Street in Portland. He was 53. … Read more