Maine's Eviction Prevention Pilot Program

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired April 27, 2026 WMPG-FM. Univ of So. Maine - Weekly - Mondays - 1:00 PM Producer & Host: Richard Rudolph, PhD. The program is an interview of Andrea Steward who is a Policy Analyst at Maine Equal Justice (MEJ). She talked about the Eviction Prevention Pilot program which was first launched in 2024. The $18 million provided assistance to 1,280 households in Maine with an average income of just $17,000. The people who applied were mainly working and reported going without medical care and food to make ends meet. They said their rent/utilities were going up (46%), they lost their job (41%) or had a change in their health status (41%). Despite the success of the initial pilot program which MEJ believes is a smart targeted investment in housing affordability, the Maine Legislature recently only voted to provide $11 million in additional funding to continue this program. Andrea also briefly talked about Maine's property tax fairness program, who is eligible and how one can apply for the refundable credit.