Project Home Case Statement and New Branding

We create

pathways to possibility

More than half of Maine renters are at risk of losing their homes. It doesn’t have to be that way.

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our clients, your neighbors.

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serving 400 households, 1840 adults and children each year 83%

66% Families with children

70% Single mothers

20% Black and brown families

Former foster youth

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Living paycheck to paycheck means

even one unplanned

expense can result in the loss of a home.

Unstable housing impacts individuals, families

and entire communities because it results in:

• poor school outcomes • poor health outcomes • food insecurity • employment loss • deep and lasting financial crisis

The constant, imminent risk of homelessness traps people in an impossible cycle — where one crisis leads to another

and escaping becomes harder each time.

from the brink 6

Project Home replaces the housing instability trap with a pathway to home.

We pair immediate access to housing with the health and financial supports people need to stay housed— and move forward.

to beyond.

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Project Home has pioneered a

new model for housing stability

that’s virtually unheard of in the United States. unlock

housing

stabilize

households

create pathways to possibility

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unlock housing When you live on the edge of poverty, it is nearly impossible to find a place to live 70,000 Maine households can’t afford their rent and are at-risk of homelessness today.

Maine needs 84,000 new affordable homes — but at this rate, building them could take 30 years or more.

We are Maine’s affordability solution

now.

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Unlock Housing

We remove risk by opening doors.

Unexpected Allies: Landlords

With 85% of Maine’s housing stock privately owned, it made sense to start there. We partner directly with landlords to provide a financial guarantee for each unit. By turning high-risk applicants into reliable tenants, we open doors to stable housing that traditional screening practices too often close due to poor credit, low income, or eviction history. We help create a home where none existed before.

We are the trusted partners that tenants need to navigate and find a place to call home.

Everywhere I turned I heard no. I had to earn more than double what I was making to rent an apartment. I would likely be waiting six years before I received government rental assistance. What was I supposed to do until then? Finally, Project Home said yes. And because they said yes, the landlord said yes.

- Program Participant

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stabilize households It’s oftentimes even harder to keep the place

to live once you’ve found it.

Rents keep rising, and more than half of Maine renters are paying 30-50% of their income just to stay housed. Once housing is lost, it’s incredibly hard—and costly—to get it back.

The fear of eviction overshadows everything else, forcing families to choose between rent, food, and medicine. Preventing eviction means protecting credit, preserving dignity, and keeping people connected to their communities.

Project Home helps renters stay in their homes through unexpected crises, breaking the cycle of instability before it starts.

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Stabilize Households

We don’t just put people in homes.

We provide the support they need to stay there.

Poverty’s challenges are deeply connected­­— but our systems rarely are. Traditional solutions

treat housing, health, and employment as separate problems.

Project Home takes a different path. Our holistic, one-door model tackles housing stability, health access, and financial security together, solving today’s housing crises while building the foundation for long-term stability.

Each month I felt like I had to decide between eating dinner and paying rent. Then my daughter got sick and needed a prescription. I choose to pay for the prescription and almost ended up nursing her back to health on the street. Finding Project Home not only kept us in our apartment, it helped us all take care of our health. We could never have gotten to the stable place we are today without them.

- Program Participant

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Stabilize Households

Ending homelessness before it begins Preventing Eviction Project Home partners with legal services providers, landlords, and MaineHousing to prevent

evictions and ensure the housing stability of over a thousand households in all 16 counties across the state. By enabling low-income renters to weather unpredicted emergencies and stay in their homes, we avoid the financial and emotional trauma that often marks tenants with damaged credit, legal history and instability that makes securing housing again nearly impossible.

Fostering Health and Well-Being Nearly all residents enter our program without a primary care provider, relying on emergency

rooms for routine care. A medical emergency or even simply a new prescription threatens the ability to pay rent. Our health outreach staff conducts in-home visits to connect families with consistent care which is proven to improve health and long-term housing stability.

Supporting Professional Growth We support clients in achieving career aspirations to secure sufficient income to meet living

expenses without relying on public or private assistance. Our approach includes life and career coaching, workforce development programs, education opportunities and connections to employer partners in high-demand fields like healthcare and manufacturing. When residents pursue meaningful employment in their chosen professional path, they are more likely to remain stably housed and achieve financial independence.

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Without cash assistance from the Trust program each month, I truly believe I would have lost my kids. I couldn’t keep up with their basic needs before — things like clean clothes and proper hygiene. The support eased my stress, kept our family together, and even gave us joy again. I used the money to take my kids out to play as well, so it definitely made a big difference in our lives.

- Program Participant

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moms children

served in first two years direct cash assistance coupled with coaching and peer support has a proven tremendous impact on lowincome single mothers and their families

Guaranteeing Income For many families—particularly those led by single mothers—securing a job can trigger a sudden loss of essential benefits (TANF, SNAP) before wages can cover basic costs, paradoxically

pushing them into deeper financial insecurity. To solve this, Project Home’s Trust program provides one year of monthly cash assistance, financial coaching and peer support, empowering families to safely transition to self-sufficiency.

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pathways to possibility The result? We move clients from crisis to self-sufficiency within a two-year timeframe.

We meet people where they are, providing the individualized support they need so that the stability lasts. After two years they no longer need us — they are not just surviving but thriving independently.

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Pathways to Possibility

Our work works.

Housing secured

Eviction prevented

success rate

households stabilized

ninety-nine percent of residents remain housed at the end of their first lease, a success rate that communities everywhere can replicate and scale.

more than 5,500 adults and children from every county in Maine have been helped

by Project Home since 2018.

99% 2,402 22

Health and well-being

Financial security

improved health

selfsufficient

within 6-9 months, 80% of households have a primary care provider, preventing crisis and promoting longterm wellness.

at the end of two years, eighty percent of households are self-sufficient having increased their income and are no longer relying on public financial assistance.

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project home pathways campaign Leadership Brit Vitalius, Board President Leah Bruns, Board Treasurer Jonathan Culley, Board Secretary Phil Cohen, Board Member Elaine Brackett, Board Member Marpheen Chann, Board Member Larissa Gahimbare, Board Member Rob Liscord, Board Member Carol Miller, Board Member Josh Waxman, Board Member Heidi Peterson, Campaign Cabinet Tom Ruff, Campaign Cabinet David Welbourn, Campaign Cabinet Victoria Morales, Executive Director 24

Goal = $1.5 Million It all begins with you.

Your investment drives proven, cost-effective, scalable, extraordinarily successful solutions to move from the brink to beyond.

Unlock housing in a way no one else does with guaranteed leases

Stabilize housing in a way no one else does through integrated services and investments directly in people through Trust direct cash assistance

Stabilizing just 100 households (a quarter of the households we serve annually), through Project Home’s proven model can prevent up to $3 million in annual public expenditures—but the true return is measured in lives changed, futures restored, and hope reclaimed.

This is where you come in. Your gift transforms crisis into stability and uncertainty into opportunity.

TOGETHER we will ensure every Mainer has not only a key to a home, but also a pathway to possibility.

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Campaign

people need people 26

to help them get back up when they fall,

because let’s face it,

we all fall. We can be their people.

Each home secured through our partnerships means fewer neighbors in crisis, fewer children facing homelessness, and fewer families losing stability and hope.

We have a waiting list of 4,000 households; the need is urgent.

Together, we can create pathways to possibility for each of them. We ask you to stand with us.

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Find your Pathway Home at

ProjectHomeMaine.org

info@ProjectHomeMaine.org

75 Washington Ave #2F Portland Maine 04101

EIN: 82-4353021