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Jennifer Hawkins is president and CEO of Avesta Housing, which provides affordable homes to thousands of Mainers, including many who were previously homeless. Dean Klein is executive director of the Maine Continuum of Care, which secures Department of Housing and Urban Development funding for housing and essential support services.

Everyone understands Maine has a housing shortage . The data proves it, but we also feel it.

When our adult children can’t afford to rent with friends, when young families can’t buy a modest home, and when workers commute long distances because there’s no nearby housing, we all se

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