In Hancock County, where one in six children consistently experiences hunger, the Bar Harbor Food Pantry that began many years ago in a church basement has taken a transformative step. It purchased the former home of a beloved local restaurant and reopened it as a permanent pantry in the heart of town.

Across Maine, hundreds of apartment buildings originally financed through USDA Rural Development’s Section 515 program are approaching a critical point: as long-term mortgages expire and owners prepare to sell, the affordability protections tied to these properties are at risk of disappearing.

With early financing from Genesis, the Nashua Housing and Redevelopment Authority is taking bold steps to more than double housing opportunities by replacing 110 aging public housing units with 273 new, energy-efficient affordable homes.

The average home price in Kennebunkport reached $1.8 million this spring. That reality is pricing out the very people who keep the town running—teachers, fishing and lobstering workers, small business owners, and caregivers as well as older residents on fixed incomes.

The Brunswick community that is now Blueberry Fields Cooperative, the largest resident-owned mobile home community in Maine, demonstrates what’s possible when the right support and resources are in place.

In the heart of Maine winter—snow falling, temperatures dipping into single digits—residents of Cedar Falls Mobile Home Park bundled up and went door to door, organizing to buy and preserve their community.