homeless students

A police officer informs inhabitants of a homeless encampment to pack up before city workers arrived to clean up the area, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Portland, Maine.

Education

Five school districts will share $2 million to prevent student homelessness

Madi Smith

The funds allocated through MaineHousing can be used to hire homeless prevention specialists or provide direct financial assistance to help families.

Joel Morse, a staff member at the Store Next Door, organizing clothes inside the resource center in Lewiston in late summer 2023.

Education

Maine's affordable housing crisis is contributing to a big increase in student homelessness

Robbie Feinberg

The number of students identified as homeless in Maine skyrocketed to more than 4,400 during the 2022-23 school year — in part due to better data collection, but also a severe lack of affordable housing.

Business and Economy

Homelessness on the rise among Maine students

Nicole Ogrysko

Nearly 2,200 Maine students are experiencing housing insecurity this year, almost 60% more compared to the last five years, according to state Department of Education data.

Freda and her 9-year-old son visit the Purple People Bridge in Cincinnati. She and her five children have been living in the front room of a friend's apartment, sleeping on pads of bunched-up comforters.

NPR News

Homeless Families Struggle With Impossible Choices As School Closures Continue

Cory Turner

Parents and caregivers who are homeless face a difficult decision: Work to try to escape homelessness, or quit their jobs to help their kids with online learning.

Maine

South Portland Schools See Increase in Homeless Students

Associated Press

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine - The South Portland public school system has seen an increase in the number of homeless students in the city's south side.Assistant…