Affordable housing advocates are backing a measure in the State House to give up to $80 million in tax incentives to double the number of low-income housing units built in Maine over the next four years. The bill would give developers access to refundable tax credits to finance the construction of  low-income housing. The bill,

In every community in Maine there are old buildings — maybe two, maybe three, maybe 20 — that catch your attention. You’ve probably walked passed these buildings and thought “what an eyesore, when are they going to tear that down?” But for tens of thousands of Mainers, that old building could be retrofitted, remodeled or

KeyBank Foundation, the charitable arm of KeyBank, has awarded a $133,333 grant to Portland-based Avesta Housing to promote housing development for low-income older Mainers and support education and counseling programs for first-time homebuyers and homeowners facing the threat of foreclosure. Part of the donation will promote expanded access to safe, clean and affordable senior housing,

The KeyBank Foundation has awarded a $133,333 grant to Portland-based nonprofit Avesta Housing to help fund a multi-generational approach to “critical areas of community need,.” The foundation, which is the charitable nonprofit unit of KeyBank, awarded the grant after extensive discussions with Avesta, which builds and manages affordable housing, Dana Totman, Avesta president and CEO, said

Affordable housing advocates are backing a measure in the State House to give up to $80 million in tax incentives to double the number of low-income housing units built in Maine over the next four years. The bill would give developers access to refundable tax credits to finance the construction of  low-income housing. The bill,

Maine’s rigorous new testing standards for lead poisoning in children has resulted in additional inspections of dwellings for lead paint, and those inspections have led to more lead hazards being discovered and removed, according to recently published research. In 2015, Maine approved a law that reduced the blood test threshold that triggers the household inspections

Steve Bowie thinks back to the two years he spent on Portland’s streets and remembers the feeling of hopelessness. For 28 months, he battled with a longtime addiction to alcohol and spent nights on floor mats at the city-run Oxford Street Shelter or at Milestone Recovery, a smaller shelter for people with substance use disorder.

Housing first is a philosophy that first emerged in the 1990s and has taken hold as a cost-effective way to reduce homelessness. In a more traditional approach, a homeless person would be given space in an overnight shelter while trying to find work or get sober or healthy enough to secure housing. But with housing

PARIS — For Carol Fanjoy, every room, hallway, nook and cranny of the newly renovated Fox School holds a memory. And those memories can be overwhelming. “The first day I got in, when I started the application process, the plumber let me in. I saw the front staircase, and I sat down — I actually

Rubbing their hands and breathing dragon smoke into the cold air, residents rush inside the bright green building. The temperature outside has barely hit double digits, so the warm lobby inside Bayside Anchor, a low-income apartment building in Portland, is a happy reprieve. The lobby is also an architectural feat, as Bayside Anchor has no