BIDDEFORD — Saint Andre Home, a non-profit agency that provides assistance to pregnant women, victims of sex trafficking and more, will close two of its long-running programs in the coming months because of a lack of funding.
Executive Director Reid Scher said Sunday that the agency expects to close Starling Place, which provides housing for pregnant women and new mothers who need a place to live, in about a month, and its adoption program in about three months. Both programs have been cornerstones of the Elm Street agency for the past 75 years.
Scher said the agency will continue to offer services such as clinical care and case management for pregnant women and new mothers; there just won’t be a live-in program.
Starling Place houses up to five women at a time, who often enroll in their first or second trimester of pregnancy and stay a month to a few months after giving birth, Scher said. Many of the women it serves are homeless or struggling with substance abuse.
Scher said the agency also made the decision to shut down its adoption program to funnel more of the limited funding it still receives from the sisters, the board’s cash reserve and government sources into two of its newer programs: the Center for Parenting and Play, which opened in 2014, and Hope Rising, which opened in May 2015.
The Biddeford-based Center for Parenting and Play provides therapy for parents and their children, case management and low-cost supported visitation.
Hope Rising, which is in an undisclosed location outside of Biddeford, provides comprehensive services, including housing, to survivors of sex trafficking; it is the first program of its kind in the state.
This story will be updated.
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