Jennifer Hawkins is president and CEO of Avesta Housing, which provides affordable homes to thousands of Mainers, including those from 638 households who were previously homeless. Dean Klein, MSW, is executive director of the Maine Continuum of Care, which secures HUD funding for housing and essential support services. 

Everyone in Maine knows we’re facing a housing crisis. The data proves it — but we also feel it every day.

When our adult children can’t afford to rent with friends, when young families are priced out of modest starter homes and when workers drive long distances because there’s no housing near their jobs, we all feel the strain. The housing shortage affects every corner of Maine, from our most rural towns to our busiest cities.

This instability hits hardest for those with the least to fall back on — people living with low incomes, disabilities, addiction or trauma. For them, the lack of affordable, stable housing can mean the difference between safety and crisis, between recovery and relapse, between having a community and facing homelessness.

The solution is straightforward: more homes that people can afford, and for some, housing that includes the support needed to maintain stability.

Permanent supportive housing — affordable homes paired with comprehensive wrap-around services — has proven to be one of the most effective strategies for preventing and ending homelessness.