The city and social service organizations are struggling to help dozens of individuals sleeping outside who can’t or won’t stay in a shelter, but the mayor says Portland can only do so much.
Grace Benninghoff
Staff Writer
Grace covers city hall and Greater Portland for the Press Herald. She previously covered reproductive health for Texas Monthly and served as the local host of All Things Considered at Vermont Public. Before moving to Maine, Grace attended Columbia Journalism School in New York City and spent many years in Colorado and Oregon working in the non-profit sector. When she isn't reporting you can find her trail-running with her dog Loma, practicing her Spanish, surfing, or making pottery.
Posted inMaine
More than 100 rabbis call for Portland boycott
Over 2 months after the Portland City Council voted to divest from companies doing business in Israel, a group of Jewish leaders from across the United States bought an ad encouraging people to boycott the city.
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Posted inElection 2024, Maine
80% of Portland voters didn’t want Trump. Now many are scared, grieving and disgusted
The heavily Democratic city overwhelmingly supported Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, a stark difference from the national picture and elsewhere in Maine. On Wednesday, many Portlanders felt a sense of grief for the country.
Posted inMaine, News
How one Lewiston family commemorated the mass shooting anniversary
The Strouts gathered on Oct. 25 to remember their husband, son, father and brother, Arthur ‘Artie’ Strout one year after he was killed.
Posted inMaine, News
What is social housing, and why does a Portland city councilor think it could help solve the housing crisis?
Portland City Councilor Kate Sykes ran with social housing at the center of her platform and has mentioned it for months around City Hall. Now she’s hoping to put together a task force to try to explore getting the program off the ground.
Posted inMaine, News
‘Get to know who you’ll spend eternity with’: A small cemetery in Maine has an unusual tradition
Anyone who owns a plot in Weld’s Mountain View Cemetery is invited to gather each August to get to know the people they’ll be buried beside.
Posted inMaine
Portland considers changes to needle exchange program after growing complaints
Mayor Mark Dion wants to limit the number of needles the city gives out. But the public health department is exploring less drastic measures, like a potential syringe buy-back program.
Posted inMaine, News
Life After Artie: Lewiston shooting victim’s father finds purpose in gun reform
Before his son was killed in the massacre last fall, Arthur Barnard hadn’t voted in decades, flown on a plane or met with U.S. senators. All of that has changed.
Posted inMaine, News
Asylum seekers are still coming to Portland – and the city now has more options
In the 2 years since an influx of asylum seekers left the city unable to house everyone who needed it, Portland has new systems in place that make the steady flow of people manageable.
Posted inBusiness, Maine, News
Federal housing voucher program on pause in large swaths of Maine
MaineHousing, which issues one-third of vouchers in the state, and housing authorities in Portland, Westbrook and Brewer have been forced to pause Section 8 vouchers after using up their allotments.