A direct cash assistance program for low-income single mothers is expanding to include dozens more families after receiving an anonymous $1.47 million donation. 

Project Home Trust, started in 2024 by Portland-based nonprofit Project Home, is currently helping its third cohort of families, with 50 mothers and their children in three counties receiving monthly direct cash assistance. 

So far, the program has helped people in Cumberland, York and Androscoggin counties, but the donation will help it expand to another county, which the organization hopes will help single moms in more rural areas of the state. It will also allow 100 mothers and their children to receive $500 in financial assistance each month for the next three years. To qualify, a single mom has to make no more than 60% of the area median income.

The expansion comes at a time when many vulnerable families, including the immigrants who are served through this program, are being cut off from social safety nets after eligibility changes to federal healthcare and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“There definitely is a need. We’re also seeing that just across the board with the cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. People are hungry who were not hungry before, and families are stretched so incredibly thin because costs continue to rise,” said Victoria Morales, executive director of Project Home.

“So that’s impacting children …and single moms too, obviously, in ways that we hadn’t seen two years ago.”

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Direct cash assistance provides financial support without restrictions on how it must be spent, allowing families to respond to their most urgent needs, including housing, food, childcare, transportation, healthcare and education. Surveys conducted by one of Project Home’s partner organizations found that this kind of assistance has reduced poverty, improved health and nutrition, supported children’s education and strengthened local economies.

The program also helps families navigate the “benefits cliff,” Morales said, which occurs when an increase in income reduces or eliminates a household’s eligibility for public programs that help cover necessities.

It “gives mothers room to navigate that transition while building toward greater stability,” said Peace Mutesi, the group’s director of economic opportunity.

Participants in the first cohort two years ago received $1000 per month to help with rent, household expenses and emergencies , which they described as life-changing. After that cohort, the amount was gradually reduced to $500, Morales said.

The organization has not yet looked at how reducing the assistance amount will impact the benefits previous cohorts reported. Morales told Maine Morning Star that the reduction was based on national studies on the 2021 child tax credit, which showed that $6000 annually was sufficient to pull families out of poverty. She added that Project Home Trust comes with peer support and housing assistance to offer holistic support throughout the duration of the program.

An evaluation of Project Home’s second cohort, completed in late 2025, found that by the program’s conclusion, all participants were caught up on rent, their average weekly work hours had increased and food insecurity had decreased. Some families also enrolled in educational programs or training opportunities. The first cohort reported many of the same outcomes.

“This model is showing that people stay in the same homes, they’re able to continue to pay their rent, and even we’ve had a few of our moms purchase homes who started out in this program,” Morales said. “And so, really seeing this as a driver of lasting financial and housing security.”

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