After strong start, organizers hope to expand Maine’s guaranteed income pilot program

When Zeinab Hijazi moved to Maine in 2022, she used part of the limited money she had to stay in a Portland area motel as she looked for housing. Like others seeking asylum in the United States, the Lebanese mother of two could not legally work for nearly six months, so Hijazi tried to find people who spoke her languages — French and Arabic — at the hotel front desk to seek help. That’s how she met Peace Mutesi. 

Mutesi, a fellow single mother who had navigated a similarly frustrating assistance system just a year ago, shared how she managed to secure housing through the Quality Housing Coalition, a Portland-based nonprofit organization where she now works as a project manager.