Safe Voices Wins MaineHousing Leadership Award
The Lewiston-based domestic violence and sex trafficking resource center received the ESHAP Award for Excellence in Organizational Leadership from MaineHousing.
Updated on Nov. 11, 2026 in Sex Crimes
Safe Voices, a domestic violence and sex trafficking resource center serving Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford Counties, received the ESHAP Award for Excellence in Organizational Leadership from MaineHousing. The award recognizes the agency's work with the state housing authority's emergency shelter and housing grant program.
Why it matters
The award highlights the role of emergency shelter providers in Maine's housing and safety network for survivors of domestic violence and trafficking. For readers across Maine, it underscores how regional shelter capacity remains a central part of statewide victim services.
Safe Voices operates three emergency shelters and provides over 5,000 bednights of shelter annually, according to agency figures. The stub does not provide a comparison with prior-year totals or statewide shelter capacity.
The players
Safe Voices
A domestic violence and sex trafficking resource center serving Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford Counties in Maine, operating emergency shelters and a safe house for trafficking survivors.
MaineHousing
The Maine State Housing Authority, which administers the ESHAP grant program funding emergency shelter and housing providers across the state.
The details
Safe Voices operates Maine's only safe house for survivors of sex trafficking and runs transitional housing units within its Franklin County shelter. Seven years ago its shelters became the first pet-friendly domestic violence shelters in Maine, and the agency also trains shelter staff to become certified NSPIRE Housing Inspectors.
Timeline
Seven years before publication, Safe Voices' shelters became the first pet-friendly domestic violence shelters in Maine.
November 11, 2026: Safe Voices was awarded the ESHAP Award for Excellence in Organizational Leadership.
Legal Context
The award is tied to MaineHousing's ESHAP program, which funds emergency shelter and housing providers across Maine. Safe Voices' work sits within that state-funded shelter system serving survivors of domestic violence and sex trafficking.
Survivors seeking emergency shelter in Androscoggin, Franklin or Oxford Counties can contact Safe Voices directly for help. The agency's pet-friendly shelters may remove one barrier for those who fear leaving animals behind.
The takeaway
Shelter access for survivors depends on pet policies, transitional housing, and inspection-ready housing, which the Safe Voices program addresses in several ways. Readers seeking help can reach the agency directly through its published resources.
Further reading
Explore more coverage in Sex Crimes across Maine.
More information
Find support and resources through the Safe Voices website for domestic abuse and trafficking resources.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Dailybulldog.
