Preble Street, Maine Needs team up to streamline donations for homeless people
Apr. 16—Preble Street and Maine Needs will work together to streamline the way clothing and hygiene items are distributed to people who are homeless or have recently found housing.
The new partnership will allow both Portland-based organizations to best use their resources to help Mainers in need, leaders of the nonprofit agencies announced this week.
Starting Friday, Preble Street will no longer accept individual in-kind, nonfood donations. Instead, donations of clothing, hygiene and household items can be brought to Maine Needs, where Preble Street can access them to meet the immediate needs of its clients.
Preble Street will continue to accept donations of food and money.
Ali Lovejoy, vice president of mission advancement at Preble Street, said the agency is "thrilled" to partner with Maine Needs. Caseworkers from Preble Street work every day adults and teens who are homeless, as well as people who are newly housed or at risk of losing their housing, she said.
"Tents, sturdy shoes, and dry clothing are literally lifesaving to people living outside. Items many of us take for granted make a huge impact for people working to move their lives forward," Lovejoy said in a statement. "With Maine Needs taking on all the collecting and sorting of these key items, Preble Street can continue to focus on other priorities including providing food, shelter, casework, and housing."
Maine Needs started as a Facebook group in 2019 and opened a donation center on Forest Avenue the following year. From the start, the organization has focused on collecting and sorting donations to distribute through caseworkers, nurses and teachers.
Maine Needs recently moved to a 16,000-square-foot space on Congress Street that allowed it to expand the types of items collected and increase the hours it is open for volunteers to work and for people to drop off donations.
"We are honored to be given the opportunity to take this off of Preble Street's plate so they can focus their invaluable energy and resources on feeding, sheltering and supporting even more people throughout our shared community," said Tara Balch, communications director for Maine Needs.
Maine Needs accepts donations Sunday through Thursday at the back of its building at 2385 Congress St. Guidelines about donations and lists of current needs are posted at maineneeds.org and on its social media accounts.
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