Florence House
Homeless shelter in Portland, Maine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Florence House is a 31⁄2 story building in Portland, Maine, United States, named after Florence Young "a social worker who spent more than 20 years working at Preble Street."[1]
The building was created to help end homelessness. Florence House is based on the Housing First model, a strategy to help move women from homelessness to a permanent supportive home environment.
Florence House can house 50 or more former homeless women. The building includes 25 efficiency apartments, a safe-haven area with 15 semi-private spaces and 10 to 25 emergency shelter beds [2]
The $7.9 million facility was completed on April 6, 2009.[3] It was developed by Preble Street and Avesta Housing[4] and received state and federal funding[5] as well as private contributions.
The opening in April, 2009 (five years after the project started) was attended by Maine Governor John Baldacci, Shaun Donovan (Secretary of Housing and Urban Development — HUD),[6] Senator Olympia Snowe, Senator Susan Collins, Representative Chellie Pingree, and other dignitaries.