About H.O.M.E

H.O.M.E., Inc. was founded in 1970. In the beginning, handcraft studios were created as a means for low-income families in rural Hancock County to earn extra income through hard Maine winters. Community members produced items from home to sell at the craft store which is located on H.O.M.E.’s 23-acre site in Orland. As one of its first efforts toward addressing homelessness in our area, H.O.M.E. opened the county’s first overnight shelter in 1979, and its first transitional housing unit in 1996. Now, more than 50 years later, our shelters and transitional houses provide 53 emergency shelter spaces on any given night as well as 16 units of housing.

 Over the years, needs of local citizens have led to programs of service tailored to respond in positive and effective outcomes, i.e. shelters for those experiencing homelessness, affordable daycare, organic gardens, a craft coop for home-based industries such as weaving, stained glass, pottery, sewing and creative arts, a food pantry and soup kitchen, plus programs to support a house construction and repair effort that built 53 homes for low-income families.

 All programs are organized and equipped through a dedicated corps of volunteers and staff, who have lived experience of poverty and in many cases have experienced homelessness.