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Category: Porch Light Blog

Avesta resident and his dog give helping paw to local schoolchildren

When school is in session at Central School in South Berwick, Maine, you are likely to find Bill Glass and his Golden Retriever, Layla, visiting the classrooms. Bill reads to the students (grades pre-K to 3) while Layla offers up her belly or ears for a good petting. In technical terms, they provide therapeutic emotional support. In plain

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Avesta partner provides groceries to food-insecure residents

Inflation hits lower-income populations the hardest. When the price of groceries increases dramatically, people who are already struggling to buy basic necessities are in danger of going hungry. Avesta Housing has formed partnerships with numerous food banks to help ensure that residents who are food insecure receive the help they need. One of the oldest

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Avesta pilot program provides housekeeping assistance to seniors

SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Jeffrey Phillips lives by himself in a studio apartment at Southgate, an Avesta Housing affordable housing community in Scarborough. He suffers from a lower-back injury suffered while working at a dairy farm that limits his mobility. Everyday housekeeping tasks are difficult – and when housekeeping is difficult, it often doesn’t get done.

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Lack of snow didn’t stop Westbrook from having their ‘Blizzard Bash’

WESTBROOK, Maine — Despite 60-degree weather and brown grass, Westbrook students were trying to soak up the rest of what’s technically still “winter”. The Westbrook police department held its annual “Blizzard Bash” where there were games, crafts, pizza and more. There were supposed to be activities like snowshoeing, but despite the lack of snow it

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Subsidized apartment buildings provide homes for Mainers in need

SOUTH PORTLAND — Maine is in the midst of a housing crisis, but some families in the greater Portland area now have a new place to call home. Last year, there were four subsidized apartment buildings being built in Portland and South Portland. Three of them are now open. “It’s 16 degrees out today,” Shay

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Report suggests changes to local zoning to expand affordable housing

PORTLAND — A surging population and highly-competitive market continues to drive up the cost of housing in Maine. Despite flurries of developments throughout the state, housing advocates have seen demand far out-pace available supply of affordable units. “Fundamentally I think what we have in our state is a mismatch of the housing we have is

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Brick Hill Program for children in low-income areas may be here to stay

LEWISTON — The developers behind a proposed senior housing project at the former Martel Elementary School say the project is moving forward after securing key financing. The proposed 44-unit senior housing redevelopment would reuse the aged school building at 880 Lisbon St., which permanently closed in 2019 before the new Connors Elementary School opened. Project

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After-school program launched at Brick Hill

SOUTH PORTLAND — Avesta Housing and Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine (BGCSM) have partnered to provide a unique after-school program in the Brick Hill neighborhood of South Portland that, if successful, may be expanded to other communities across southern Maine. Two days a week, staff from BGCSM provide on-site after-school programming to children

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