History

People’s Regional Opportunity Program

Client Service Center
510 Cumberland Avenue
Portland, Maine 04101
800-698-4959
207-553-5800
Fax: 207-874-1155
TTY: 207-874-1013

Administrative Offices
2338 Congress Street
Portland, Maine 04102
207-553-5800
Fax: 207-553-5888

How we began

PROP is a private, not-for-profit corporation, established by the federal Office of Economic Opportunity in 1965, and designated by the Maine Community Services Act as a Community Action Agency serving 23 communities in Cumberland County, Maine.


During PROP's first few years, we realized that the major problems of poverty couldn't be solved until the majority of people acknowledged that the problems existed and could not be ignored. We began organizing the poor and the oppressed, working with them to clarify and voice their concerns.


What followed in the 1970s was a shift in emphasis: from increasing awareness of problems to directly providing services to solve problems:

  • Head Start expanded;
  • child care services began;
  • in response to the oil embargo of that time, housing and energy services were added, including fuel assistance;
  • PROP established congregate meal sites for the elderly;
  • the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) was added;
  • summer recreation and adult basic education services began;
  • we offered a dentures program;
  • our offices moved from a succession of church basements to the Rosa True building on Park Street in Portland.

In the 1980s, we continued to advocate for greater involvement of all segments of society to address the needs of the poor. In 1986 we co-sponsored a major conference, Investing in Human Potential: New Alliances for Lasting Solutions. As budgets were tightened, we transferred some programs to other providers, increased our reliance on direct-service volunteers, and expanded our advocacy capabilities. We created the Family Resource Center and launched our quarterly publication, PROPeople.


In 1990, the Board of Trustees redefined a vision, values, a mission, and goals for PROP. Over the next two years, we added the Peer Leader, Mainely Families, and Foster Grandparents programs, and we continued to expand our Child Development work. We were also redesignated the Cumberland County weatherization provider. In 1993, we purchased our current headquarters, Deering Place on Cumberland Avenue, which combines our administrative offices with affordable rental housing for families, a community room, and child development classrooms. PROP continues to be a vital and dynamic example of Community Action, collaborating with community partners and advocating with and for low-income people for better, more affordable health care and nutrition services, education, family support, housing, and transportation.


Today, PROP serves nearly 53,000 people annually in Cumberland and York County. Some programs provide services statewide.