The Colby Echo

Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: Local News

Media Credit: Suzanne Merkelson Colby students Kerry Whittaker '08 and Allie Holmes '08 serve breakfast at the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter.

Media Credit: Suzanne Merkelson The Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter has room for 18 guests at a time.

It's easy to miss the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter. It's located in a house on Ticonic St., running parallel to Upper Main St. The shelter blends in inconspicuously with the surrounding homes and offices in the shadow of the towers of Mayflower Hill; most wouldn't give it a second glance. However, for some in the Waterville community, the shelter is the City's most important building, providing hot food and warm beds to the neediest.

According to Executive Director Mike Marston, the shelter was founded in 1990 by the Interfaith Council; that same year it moved to its current facility on Ticonic St. In 1994, after experiencing an increase in homeless families, the shelter added two family units to complement its rooms for singles. The shelter serves breakfast and dinner each day to its guests (a title shelter employees and volunteers make a point of using) and employs a resource specialist, who helps guests look for housing and employment opportunities. In 2007, the shelter hosted 450 adults and 150 children-most stay anywhere from a night to a few months-and served over 12,000 meals.

Stephanie Steele works as the shelter manager; she explained that the shelter has been very busy this winter. Because the shelter can only provide capacity for 18 guests at a time, it has been important for employees to find some housing alternatives for those in need. Often, the shelter will use additional grants and allocations to put people up in hotel rooms, as part of its winter emergency program.

"We get up to ten calls [looking for rooms] some days," Steele said. "[The calls are] from moms and their kids needing a place to stay...It's heartbreaking. What do you do with them?" Marston and his staff have been proactive in phoning other shelters to look for available space; he will often personally drive guests to other shelters in the state. Marston said that they have begun designing a new shelter located on Colby St. and hopes to move there within two years.

The Mid-Maine Shelter is very popular among its guests, a fact that is especially evidenced when the shelter is fully booked, as it is on many winter nights. "We take pride that people feel at home here," Steele said. "Guests seem to know they can get help here and are comfortable coming here." Many guests are from the Waterville area, although there are many people from farther away, including Kennebec, Somerset, Franklin and Waldo counties, along with a few from out of state. Location stability is important for many guests, especially those with employment or with children in school. Marston has noticed an obvious increase in families with small children needing shelter over the past five years. "It's the economy," he explained. "The loss of industry has hit single parents working to make ends meet. There's been a loss in manufacturing jobs [in Maine]. People are really feeling the economic crunch this winter. It's putting a strain on budgets and people are walking a very thin line."

Employees also work with guests who have problems with alcohol and drug abuse, as well as mental illness, getting them help from hospitals and putting them in contact with rehabilitation programs. Still, Marston stressed that most guests are simply "friends and neighbors one paycheck short of the rest of us." It's this spirit that makes the shelter's atmosphere so welcoming and can be best viewed in the breakfast banter among guests, employees and volunteers.

Allie Holmes '08 is the Colby Volunteer Center's contact for the Mid-Maine shelter. She has been volunteering for the past four years. The volunteer work, she said, "is really interesting. It gives a new perspective on Maine and Waterville." According to Holmes, about ten students regularly volunteer, waking up early in the mornings to get to the shelter by 6:30 a.m. and cook breakfast. Holmes has developed close friendships with some of the guests who she said are "really open to talking about their lives. Most are very appreciative and can't thank us enough." Guests also express interest in the students' lives. "Guests love having people here, mostly girls," Steele said. "They like to see young kids in school bettering themselves and taking time out of their busy schedules."

Not only do volunteers make an impact, but donations can also go a long way. Currently, the Environmental Coalition is running a program where students can drop off unwanted clothing and shoes in boxes across campus. The donations are given to the Mid-Maine Shelter, along with other shelters across the state. "[The donations] are awesome, people absolutely love them," Steele said. "For underprivileged people, it's cool to get clothes from the Gap and Abercrombie and Fitch." Money donations are also appreciated; Holmes said that events like pancake breakfasts and raffles are especially effective.

The enthusiasm and dedication of staff and volunteers shows that the shelter will continue to provide necessary services to those having the most difficult time. Gathered around the shelter's kitchen table over a plate of French toast one morning, guests expressed gratitude for the volunteers. "I think the [volunteers] do a wonderful job, have great personalities, work well with others, and are very polite...[their] parents did something right," said Liz, a guest. Another guest, Monty, was quick to add, "It's nice to have such pretty faces to wake up to in the morning."

"These are people who are in need because of rising costs of living," Steele said. "It could happen to anybody. We have people from all walks of life." She thinks that the best students can do is be aware and "help out when you can, because it could be you."

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