by Joyce Kryszak , Maine Monitor

Although the pandemic boosted the population of rural Down East Maine, the sudden rush of new residents sent Washington County’s already dire housing shortage spiraling, with much of the available housing stock scooped up.

Worse still, the scarcity of homes in Maine’s second-poorest county — where the poverty rate hovers around 20 percent, and the median household income is less than $45,000 — puts the neediest residents at a huge disadvantage in the scramble to find homes.