For Immediate Release

Contact:    Deborah Turcotte
MaineHousing Public Information Manager
(207) 626-4617 or (cell) 242-1904

AUGUSTA - Individuals and families displaced from their homes due to recent fires in Lewiston can attend a housing fair this Wednesday, May 8, from 1-5 p.m. at the Lewiston office of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Main Street.

MaineHousing, Maine DHHS, and local support agencies are hosting the event to connect prospective tenants with landlords. Landlords and property managers with vacant apartments are encouraged to attend this housing fair, and may call MaineHousing to reserve a space at 626-4600.

Also, landlords and property managers throughout Maine can advertise their vacant units for free on Maine's rental housing connection, MaineHousingSearch.org. This site is a great resource for prospective tenants to connect with landlords.MaineHousingSearch.org is a service of MaineHousing and its partners at Maine DHHS, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Smoke Free Coalition of Maine, and 2-1-1.

MaineHousing administers the Housing Choice Voucher Program for parts of Maine that are not served by local housing authorities, and maintains lists of subsidized housing units in each Maine county. Properties on this list may not have vacancies at this time. Prospective tenants can contact the property managers for more information. The lists are available at www.mainehousing.org. Select "Lewiston fires: housing resources" on the home page.

MaineHousing's mission is to assist Maine people to obtain decent, safe, and affordable housing. The agency does this through the administration of federal housing programs, homeless prevention programs, and affordable housing development. The agency is not a landlord and therefore is unable to provide emergency housing. It can, however, connect people to landlords.

###

The mission of MaineHousing is to assist Maine people to obtain and maintain decent, safe, affordable housing and services suitable to their unique housing needs. Please visit our Web site at www.mainehousing.org.