Everyone deserves a place to call home.

Building Communities Together: A Look Back at 2025

When I accepted the opportunity to join Avesta Housing this past summer, I knew I would be stepping into a strong and impactful organization that has been delivering on its mission of delivering quality housing, innovation, and advocacy for decades.

Over the past several months, as I have met with Avesta team members, community partners, and the broad constellation of business leaders who help us do what we do, my initial confidence has only deepened. Every day, I am inspired by the creativity and commitment demonstrated by my colleagues at Avesta. We’re digging deep to meet the urgent housing needs of Mainers and residents of New Hampshire.

At this time of year, we are especially called to look back and reflect on what has been accomplished and to also look ahead at what more we can do to best serve our community. In the sections below, we highlight several key milestones that were achieved due to our courageous supporters. Avesta and our partners are imagining and advancing a vibrant, flourishing future where everyone has a safe, affordable home and enjoys a life of health and economic mobility. And as I ponder the year ahead, I am filled with enthusiasm and gratitude to work alongside a fierce community of mission-focused leaders.

Thank you to everyone who has warmly welcomed me to Avesta. I still have so many partners to meet and places to visit. Drop me a line – I'd love to connect with you!

Jennifer Hawkins

President & CEO

Hebert Construction workers guide a roof section to the top of Seavey Crossing in Westbrook.

In 2025, Avesta hosted celebrations for two new affordable housing communities for people ages 55 and older: Snow School Apartments, our first property in Fryeburg, and Meadowview II, an expansion of our Meadowview campus in Gray.

Construction was completed on Wedgewood in Lewiston, a Choice Neighborhoods collaboration between Avesta and Lewiston Housing that provides 82 new affordable homes for families.

Entrance to Meadowview II in Gray.

We are nearing completion of Edgewater Village in Farmington (now accepting applications!), and we began construction on 89 Elm Street Apartments in Portland, Seavey Crossing in Westbrook, and DeWitt, our second Choice Neighborhoods project with Lewiston Housing. Altogether, these developments will provide 391 new affordable homes in Maine.

In 2026, we are scheduled to break ground on The Rochambeau in Biddeford and River Turn II in Conway, N.H. Avesta has more than 1,000 new homes in various stages of development.

Artists' renderings of River Turn II and The Rochambeau.

Click to view a video of the groundbreaking ceremony for Clover Terraces in Westbrook.

In spring 2025, Avesta partnered with Jack Soley and Hebert Construction to launch Domus, a new initiative to meet the need for more workforce housing in Maine by developing new condominiums at affordable prices. We celebrated the first Domus project, Clover Terraces, with a groundbreaking ceremony in November that included Maine Gov. Janet Mills among our honored guests. Clover Terraces will consist of 46 new condos, 34 of which are priced for middle-income buyers. Click here for Clover Terraces purchase information!

Artist rendering of Clover Terraces.

In the fall, we sold the first two homes in “A Path Forward – Homeownership for ME” program, through which we purchase dilapidated houses, renovate them, and sell them at attainable prices to attract first-time homebuyers in Maine. A Path Forward is managed by Avesta’s Homeownership + Financial Counseling department, which also provided first-time homeownership classes to more than 800 people and foreclosure prevention services to more than 100 households in 2025.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first two "Path Forward" homes and the finished living room of one of the homes after extensive renovations.

Avesta Housing residents and others from the Bayside neighborhood receive meals prepared by Wayside at 409 Cumberland Apartments in Portland.

Avesta partners with more than 100 organizations and businesses to ensure that our residents receive the tools they need to achieve and maintain housing stability.

In September, we hosted "A Celebration of Home," a casual gathering at Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, to thank partners, our Board of Directors, and other stakeholders who help make our work possible. A highlight of the event was the presentation of Avesta’s Mission Champion Award to the Southern Maine Agency on Aging (SMAA) for its longtime support of older adults living in affordable homes in Maine.

SMAA CEO Megan Walton (center) accepts the Mission Champion Award presented by Avesta President & CEO Jennifer Hawkins (left) and Board of Directors Chair Dr. Renee Fay-LeBlanc.

Waynflete School senior Lucy Olson, right, tutors an Avesta Housing resident at Brick Hill Heights in South Portland.

Community meals and food pantries by Wayside, math tutoring by EMLI and Waynflete student volunteers, cooking classes and nutritional education by SNAP-Ed and The Opportunity Alliance, materials and building assistance for community gardens, MaineHealth Homeless to Housing assistance, and fraud prevention workshops were just some of the many resident services provided across our property portfolio this year.

Logan Place and Florence House, two Avesta properties for residents who have experienced chronic homelessness, celebrated milestone anniversaries this year. Both provide 24-7 supportive services in partnership with Preble Street.

Our two assisted-living communities, Inn at Village Square in Gorham and 75 State Street in Portland, provided housing and assistance that allowed older adults to live safely and with dignity.

Logan Place celebrated its 20th anniversary in March.

The historic Dr. Milton Wedgewood House was rehabilitated and repurposed for affordable apartments in the Wedgewood campus, a partnership between Avesta and Lewiston Housing.

Avesta continues to be a leader in sustainable building practices that reduce our carbon footprint, increase energy efficiency, and optimize comfort and indoor air quality for our residents.

In 2025, Firehouse Village in Scarborough received a MEREDA Notable Project Award. Firehouse Village includes Village Commons, an Avesta Housing development that provides 31 affordable homes for older adults. We also received an Excellence in Historic Preservation Award for the 1873 Dr. Milton Wedgewood House, which was repurposed for affordable housing as part of the Wedgewood campus in Lewiston.

Village Commons, part of Firehouse Village in Scarborough, Maine.

In September, we hosted a legislative task force of the Maine Department of Economic & Community Development for a tour of Seavey Crossing to highlight how an innovative construction format could help us meet the state’s housing demands more efficiently and quickly.

Avesta Housing Director of Construction Services Todd Rothstein leads a hardhat tour of Seavey Crossing for members of a legislative task force with staff from development partners Hebert Construction, Atlas Structural Systems, Hammond Lumber Company, Simons Architects, and Thornton Tomasetti.

Accomplishments like these are made possible thanks to people like you. Your generosity is essential to providing our neighbors a safe home to build the foundation for a healthy, stable life.

But we still need your help to do even more. You are essential to our shared mission of providing safe, quality, affordable homes and resident services to people who need them most. People like Tammie and David.

Make your donation by December 31 to create a welcoming community like Tammie and David’s.