The Open Door
A home for what comes next. We are raising the funds to open stable transitional housing in Knox County, where people returning from incarceration can stay rooted in their communities, keep working, reconnect, and build a life beyond prison. The house is not open yet, and that is what this campaign is for.
A place to land. A place to begin.Maine has set a goal of zero people released from incarceration into homelessness. The Open Door is being built to help make that goal real.
For someone leaving prison, the first question is often painfully simple: where am I going to sleep tonight?
Maine’s two primary male correctional facilities are in Warren, drawing people from every corner of the state. Many leave prison ready to work, reconnect with family, follow the rules, and build something different. But wanting a different life and having the conditions to build one are not the same thing.
Without a safe place to live, everything gets harder. Keeping a job. Getting to appointments. Meeting supervision requirements. Reconnecting with family. Learning how to manage money, groceries, transportation, schedules, relationships, and all the ordinary things that become complicated when you have spent years having nearly every part of your life controlled.
The Open Door is being built to give people somewhere to start.
Planned for a location within minutes of Maine’s correctional facilities, The Open Door will be a structured transitional home where people can move directly from incarceration into a safe, supportive community. Residents will have a room, a key, a place at the table, and the time and support to build the pieces of an independent life.
But The Open Door is about much more than a bed.
Residents will receive support with employment, transportation, daily living skills, budgeting, appointments, community connections, family reunification, and navigating the practical realities of life after prison. They will have people in their corner as they learn new routines, practice making decisions, solve problems, and take on the responsibilities of living independently.
There will be structure. There will be expectations. There will be accountability. And there will be community.
The Open Door isn’t a sober house. It isn’t a place to simply wait out a sentence or prove that you can behave. It’s a place to practice living.
Because independence doesn’t happen the day someone walks out of prison. It is built through hundreds of ordinary choices: getting up for work, making an appointment, paying a bill, asking for help, repairing a relationship, handling conflict, and coming home to a place where someone knows your name.
We can’t ask people to build stable lives while giving them nowhere to begin. The Open Door will give people a place to land, and the support to keep moving.
The state has set the goals. The Open Door helps build the bridge.
Maine State Prison and Bolduc Correctional Facility, combined. Maine Department of Corrections population report, September 2026.
Nearest dedicated program is 35 miles away in Belfast.
Goals, not current results. Maine’s Reentry 2030 commitments set a target of 85% released to stable housing, and separately, zero releases to homelessness. Maine Department of Corrections.
The road to opening.
Build the beginning.
Raise the first $60,000 through our Founding 25 campaign. Twenty-five people and community partners stepping up to help turn a house into a home, and make sure the first people who walk through The Open Door have somewhere safe to land.
Get the keys.
Secure the property in Knox County and complete the zoning and local approvals needed to turn it into a home, not just another program.
Open the door.
Welcome our first residents. Give them a key. A bed. A place at the table. A community that knows their name. And then get to work.