Independent evaluations found the trust’s direct cash assist improved participants’ lives, with all current on rent, weekly earnings increased and the share enrolled in education or training doubled.
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Project Home, formerly the Quality Housing Coalition, received a $1.47 million gift from an anonymous donor to expand Project Home Trust, its direct cash assistance program for low-income single mothers and their children.
The donation will double the number of families served annually and bring Project Home’s direct cash assistance program to a fourth Maine county, according to a news release.
“This gift represents a transformational investment in Maine mothers and children,” said Victoria Morales, the nonprofit’s executive director and a 2023 Mainebiz Women to Watch honoree.
“It will allow us to bring a proven approach to more families while preserving what makes [the] trust effective: unrestricted financial support, stable housing, individualized guidance and a strong community of mothers supporting one another.”
About Project Home
Morales started Project Home in 2018 to help individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity access and maintain stable housing. Its services include housing navigation, lease guarantees, eviction prevention, health outreach, employment and education support and direct cash assistance.
Since its inception, Project Home has secured and stabilized housing for 3,052 households, representing more than 10,000 adults and children.
Direct cash assistance
The trust is led by Peace Mutesi, Project Home’s director of economic opportunity and a 2025 Mainebiz 40 Under 40 honoree.
“The cash provides immediate flexibility, while the monthly meetings and peer community help mothers build confidence, relationships and plans for the future,” said Mutesi.
The program provides financial support without restrictions on how it must be spent, allowing families to respond to their most urgent needs, including housing, food, child care, transportation, health care and education. Project Home recently launched its third and largest trust cohort, with 50 mothers and their children in Cumberland, York and Androscoggin counties.
The gift will allow the program to expand into a fourth Maine county and serve 100 mothers and their children each year for the next three years, reaching approximately 300 mothers and an estimated 600 children in all.
Independent evaluations of the trust’s first two cohorts found meaningful improvements in participants’ lives, the nonprofit said. In the second cohort, participants became better able to meet their basic needs, more optimistic about their financial futures and more satisfied with their lives.
By the program’s conclusion, all participants were current on rent, average weekly earnings had increased by 57% and the share enrolled in education or training had doubled. Participants also reported feeling less isolated, more hopeful and more confident in their ability to manage family life.
Benefits cliff
Project Home Trust pairs unrestricted monthly cash payments with stable housing, individualized coaching, resource navigation and a structured peer community. Participants attend monthly meetings that combine goal setting, practical guidance and opportunities to build relationships with other mothers. Participants help determine the meeting topics and Project Home brings in experts to provide information and answer questions about issues most important to the mothers.
The program also helps families navigate the “benefits cliff,” which occurs when an increase in income reduces or eliminates a household’s eligibility for public programs that help cover necessities such as child care, health care and food.
“Families can be working more and earning more but still end up with fewer resources when a modest increase in income causes them to lose essential benefits,” said Mutesi. “[The] trust gives mothers room to navigate that transition while building toward greater stability.”
The anonymous donor was specifically seeking a Maine-based direct cash assistance program.
“This investment will allow us to demonstrate what is possible when we replace restrictions and assumptions with trust,” Morales said. “Two trust participants have already purchased their first homes after completing the program.”
