25 Years of Helping the Disadvantaged

The Preble St. Resource Center will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a conference on Friday, June 1, on the theme, “The New Economy and the Old Poverty.” As it has since its founding in 1976, the center will challenge assumptions about those who are poor and the solutions society poses for poverty. The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Luther Bonney Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus.

The center that has provided accessible services to people struggling against homelessness, hunger and poverty was founded, originally as the High Street Resource Center, by USM Social Work Professor (now Professor Emeritus) Joseph Kreisler, former chair of USM’s Social Work Department. Kreisler was honored recently at USM’s Commencement, May 12, for his 60 years of social activism.

The conference will feature workshops on housing for the homeless, access to policy making, social purpose enterprise opportunities, empowering youth and other issues. Cheri Hankala, co-chair of the National Welfare Rights Union, will give the keynote address at 9 a.m. A panel at 1 p.m. with Willie Baptist, education director of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union; Michael Hillard, USM associate professor of economics; and Chris Hastedt, public policy specialist with the Maine Equal Justice Project, will examine the nature of poverty and services for the poor today after years of a strong economy.

For more information on the conference and anniversary celebration, call the Preble St. Resource Center at 775-0026.