2025 Point in Time Count

Figure 1: Trends. Point in Time counts over the years, distinguishing between those in homeless shelters, in emergency motels, in
transitional housing, and without shelter. Emergency motel stays were mainly funded by COVID-related supplementary funding.

*Until 2023, the Point in Time count of individuals in Transitional Housing included some recipients of rental assistance through the
Bridging Rental Assistance Program (BRAP), administered by Maine DHHS. Although BRAP continues to operate after 2023, program
recipients are no longer included in the Transitional Housing count reported for the Point in Time.

On January 22, 2025, the total “point in time” count of people experiencing homelessness in Maine was 282
lower than the count in January of the previous year. This reflects a trend of homelessness returning generally
to levels historically seen prior to the pandemic era. The Point in Time total increased significantly (114%)
from 2021 to 2022, primarily reflecting the use of motel rooms as low-barrier shelters for chronically homeless
individuals, asylum-seeking families, and others in need of emergency shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2023, the use of, need for, and funding to support those motel stays has decreased sharply, explaining
the 43% decrease in the total count between 2023 and 2025. Many individuals who had been temporarily
housed in motels likely returned to informal housing solutions that are either difficult to count or not included
in HUD’s definition of homelessness (e.g. couch surfing). Others benefited from the expanded shelter capacity
created by temporary winter warming shelters, which were funded through the Emergency Housing Relief
Fund from 2023 to 2025 and expanded system wide shelter capacity by about 350-400 beds. Finally, more than
three-quarters of asylum-seeking households who had been housed in motels or transitional housing programs
secured employment and permanent housing of their own.1
Obscured in the overall count are many bright spots in Maine’s fight against homelessness, in recent years,
such as the work undertaken by the City of Portland, Prosperity Maine, and Catholic Charities of Maine to help
more than 400 families move from shelter and transitional housing into permanent housing. Such efforts are
important factors that underlie overall changes in the count.
We also wish to underscore the nature of the Point in Time count, which is a federally mandated, highly
situational snapshot of how homelessness presents on a single winter night. More details on that can be found
below. While the count has value, it is a limited tool drawn from a single day of the year and should not be
seen as providing a complete picture of homelessness in Maine over time.
1
Based on reporting from Catholic Charities of Maine programs in South Portland and Saco.
Page 1 of 6
 Youth & Families

Figure 2a & 2b: Households and Children. In 2025, 14.9% of all households experiencing homelessness had at least one child during
the Point in Time count. Of those with children, less than 0.4% were unsheltered. Relative to the 2024 count, there were 93 fewer
households with children, a 25.5% decrease, and an additional 50 households without children, a 3.3% increase.

Figure 3: Children, Youth, and Adults. The overall count decreased relative to 2024 in all age groups, with children under 18 seeing the
largest percent decrease (25.6%).

Page 2 of 6
 Race & Ethnicity

Figure 4: Race and Ethnicity Counts. The “Other” category includes Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern
or North African individuals. The White, Multi-Racial, and Other counts all increased relative to 2024, whereas the count in each of the
remaining three groups decreased. The Black, African American, or African count decreased by more than a third, from 1,141 in 2024
to 757 in 2025. This is at least partially attributed to the successful employment and transition to permanent housing of asylum-seeking
households.

Figure 5: Racial Distributions. This figure depicts the racial distribution of the unhoused count alongside that of the statewide
population. Because ethnicity is not accounted for concurrently with race in US Census data, the unhoused count of Hispanic or Latinx
individuals has been included in the Other category. Notably, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Multi-
Racial are all significantly overrepresented in the unhoused population.

Page 3 of 6
 Subpopulations in the 2025 Point in Time Count

Figure 6: Unhoused Subpopulations. The Sheltered category includes representation from all of the identified subpopulations, which
are not mutually exclusive. In the Unsheltered category, the largest subgroups were those affected by serious mental illness, chronic
homelessness, and substance use disorder (respectively representing over 38%, 33%, and 30% of the total unsheltered count.)

Chronically Homeless, Veterans & Survivors of Domestic Violence

Figure 7: Homeless Trends for the Chronically Unhoused, Veterans, and Survivors of Domestic Violence. The count of homeless survivors
of domestic violence decreased by more than 30% in 2025. However, the chronically homeless count increased by more than 11% and
the count of homeless veterans increased by about 10% during the same period.

Page 4 of 6
 Where People Were the Night of the Survey

Hub 1: York County

Hub 2: Cumberland County
Hub 3: Midcoast - Sagadahoc, Knox, Lincoln, Waldo Counties and
Towns of Brunswick and Harpswell
Hub 4: Androscoggin County
Hub 5: Western - Oxford and Franklin Counties and Towns of
Livermore and Livermore Falls
Hub 6: Central - Somerset and Kennebec Counties
Hub 7: Penquis - Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties
Hub 8: Downeast - Washington and Hancock Counties
Hub 9: Aroostook County

Figure 8: Distribution by Regional Hubs. Hubs 2, 4, and 9 saw net homeless counts decrease in 2025, whereas all others saw at least a
small increase. Most notably, the net count in Hub 2 decreased by 436 (34.7%), a larger drop than the overall decrease for the whole
state.

Page 5 of 6
 About the Point in Time Count
The Point in Time count is a survey of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons from a single night each
year. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that each Continuum of Care
conduct a Point in Time count within the last ten days of January annually. HUD uses the Point in Time count
from each of the 50 states as a primary data source for the Annual Homeless Assessment Report. Each count
is locally planned, coordinated, and carried out. Information from emergency shelters and other service
providers is collected through Maine’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), supplemented by
paper surveys and mobile app-based surveys to incorporate the unsheltered count. Both the HMIS and survey
data are comprised of self-reported information about the participants. In Maine, Hub Coordinators organize
the unsheltered portion of the count in each of the nine Homeless Service Hubs throughout the state, relying
on support from local volunteers and nonprofit organizations.
The data from these surveys can take several weeks to accurately process. This includes several days of
supplementary data gathering, collation of these data from organizations throughout the state, and then several
more weeks for data validation and deduplication. The end product is a snapshot that, along with other reports
and continuous HMIS data tracking, contributes to our understanding of homelessness in Maine.

About MaineHousing and the Maine Continuum of Care

MaineHousing is an independent quasi-state agency created in 1969 by the Maine State Legislature
to address the problems of unsafe, unsuitable, overcrowded, and unaffordable housing. Each year,
MaineHousing assists more than 90,000 Maine households and invests more than $750 million in the
Maine economy.

The Maine Continuum of Care secures HUD funding to create housing and services that help individuals
and families exit homelessness and find safe, stable housing. A Continuum of Care is a group of service
providers who work together in collaborative planning process to develop programs that address
homelessness. The Maine Continuum of Care covers the entire State of Maine.

For more information about MaineHousing programs, please contact us at:

Maine State Housing Authority

26 Edison Drive | Augusta, Maine 04330
207-626-4600 | 800-452-4668 | Maine Relay 711 | Fax 207-626-4678
mainehousing.org

Page 6 of 6