About Spruce Run

Spruce Run has two important goals: we serve people affected by domestic abuse, and we work to end personal, institutional, and cultural violence. We were the first domestic violence project in Maine and just the third in the country when we incorporated in 1973.  Since then, we’ve grown from an all-volunteer organization with a budget of about $40,000 to an agency with a paid staff of over 20 and a budget of over $1 million. We are grateful for the goodwill and contributions of the people of Penobscot County – and beyond – who help fund our work and who serve as volunteers in countless capacities.

Our services include a 24-hour hotline; emergency shelter; support and education groups; transitional housing and services; children’s services; youth-based prevention programs; advocacy, consultation, and collaboration within the child protective, legal, and other systems; and training and education designed to foster a coordinated community response to domestic violence. We serve people who need shelter or other support services from all over Penobscot County as well as from parts of Waldo, Hancock, Piscataquis and Somerset counties. Our services are free and are designed to help each individual think through and understand his or her options, make informed decisions, and achieve and maintain safety, autonomy and self-sufficiency.

Spruce Run is a private, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization,  funded primarily by the Maine Department of Health & Human Services, United Way of Eastern Maine, Maine Housing, and the generous donations of people and businesses in the communities we serve.

Spruce Run is a founding member of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, the statewide coalition of domestic violence projects.

Read more about Spruce Run’s history and learn about the significant events in Maine’s response to domestic violence by looking at our timeline.

For more information about Spruce Run’s beginnings, check out our oral history project, The ‘Somebody Else’ Was Us.