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Your Support Matters.
Lack of affordable housing continues to be the number one reason people seek our services. Last year, our housing specialists helped 106 people find housing, a 51% increase over 2021. We are currently working with private and public partners to bring even more housing to the Midcoast area.
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Private donations make up almost 65% of our total operating budget.
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Doing it Differently:
AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND LIVES TRANSFORMED
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After nearly two years of planning board approval process and neighbor politics, our much-needed affordable housing venture is finally underway at 165 Talbot Ave! We are teaming up with Midcoast Habitat for Humanity and Maine State Housing Authority to create this neighborhood community to serve as a model for other rural towns across Maine and the U.S. looking for affordable and sustainable solutions. Thanks to the combination of small footprint design, local business in-kind donations and discounts, the Habitat volunteer construction model, and panels built through the Construction Certification Program at the Maine State Prison, the cost of this building project is significantly less than traditional construction, making these homes truly affordable for most people working and trying to find housing in this community.
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When complete, Firefly Field will provide as many as 40 people—children, families, single adults, and the elderly—with a place to call home.
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The neighborhood will include six cottages, two duplexes with multi-bedroom apartments, and three Habitat homes. There will be both rental and home ownership options in this diverse community, within walking distance of downtown.
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Our People:
CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
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BRENT IS AN EXAMPLE OF SOMEONE WHO SLIPPED THROUGH THE CRACKS.
He holds a bachelor’s degree, has traveled overseas, held many different types of jobs, and even run his own business; yet he struggles each day to maintain employment and housing. When he’s doing well, his intelligence and ambition shine through, yet he has battled depression since his preteen years. Never having found the right therapy to ease his depression, he eventually turned to self medicating as an adult, which led to substance addiction.
Too many programs are set up to deal with only one issue, not the complexity of co-occurring issues of depression and substance use. Over the years, when he reached out for help, providers labeled him as either “not needy enough” or “too much need and too serious a risk” for their programs and would send him away. He became homeless when he refused to give up his dog—his closest friend—to get housing. During a deep depressive episode, he found himself homeless and suicidal. That’s when he finally reached out to KCHC, where two social workers met him where he was, talked to him as a person and got him to the hospital, where he agreed to spend some time in the psychiatric unit. The KCHC team then connected him to a cutting-edge therapy program and he agreed to let a friend watch his dog. The facilitators even let him Facetime with his dog if he meets program requirements.
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It Takes a Village:
WORKING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY
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All were invited to celebrate the talented and dynamic young people of our community at this season’s Let’s Celebrate our Youth! Spring Celebration (2023), sponsored by the RSU13 Youth Alliance and hosted at The Landing Place, our comprehensive youth program located in Rockland. The event took place on Saturday, May 20, from 12 - 4 p.m., and featured youth-inspired Carnival style games, activities, music, art, and a puppet parade through Rockland to welcome spring.
The goal of Let’s Celebrate Our Youth! was to demonstrate our solidarity as a community in support of local youth and families and to bring people together in a celebratory way.
We hope you will join us again at the Rockland Summer Solstice Celebration on Saturday, June 17th where we have the opportunity to join in the celebration on Main Street.
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On May 18, we received a $10,000 grant to support Mental Health and Wellness programs for clients and staff from Knox County Fund & Building Stronger Nonprofits Fund of the Maine Community Foundation (MaineCF).
This grant comes at a crucial time and will go directly to increasing free mental health for youth aged 14-21, while bolstering our internal measures to provide mental health training and mental wellness support to our front-line workers who address the trauma of homelessness face-on, everyday.
According to NAMI.org, high school students with depression are more than 2x more likely to drop out than their peers, and 49.2% of Mainers between the ages of 12-17 who have depression did not receive any care in the last year. At Knox County Homeless Coalition, nearly 100% of those who seek services are experiencing an unmet mental health need. Within a year of working with KCHC, 88% are connected to necessary mental health services.
The combination of Covid-19 and the current housing crisis has put a mental strain on even the strongest in our community. For the most vulnerable, this is only compounded. Addressing mental health needs along the path to housing only strengthens social determinants of health and is one of many factors contributing to 95-97% of KCHC’s housed clients remaining in housing more than one year later.
Maine Community Foundation has a long history of supporting KCHC programs and initiatives. If you'd like to learn more about Knox County Homeless Coalition's innovative approach to social work, affordable housing, and youth programming to determine if it might be a good fit for support from your MaineCF Donor Advised Fund, please reach out to KCHC to schedule a time at 207-593-8151 or info@homehelphope.org.
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Thank you to Martha and Bruce Meyer for donating a 2000 Honda CRV to Knox County Homeless Coalition!
We are looking for 2 more cars with at least 2 years of life left in them this month—Do you know someone who could help?
Transportation was listed as a barrier to nearly all adult clients on intake last year.
Jump start the success of one of our families allowing them to get or maintain a job. A working vehicle can make the difference between keeping or losing a job, attending or missing medical appointments, getting to the pharmacy, accessing child-care, supporting elderly parents, as well as keeping social connections and shopping for food and diapers or hygiene and cleaning supplies. This is especially true in the rural areas we serve.
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Please consider a vehicle donation today and/or help us spread the word. Click here or email cdelorimier@homehelphope.org now for more info on how to make a vehicle donation.
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A huge thank you to the 10 Camden National Bank executives who came to our campus in Rockport in May to help assemble our new Cedarworks Playset for the children staying at our Hospitality House Shelter!
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The Magic of Believing
Robin Anne Beattie Horty's show of original photography, The Magic of Believing, is currently on display in the Cyr Gallery at Bangor Public Library. 40% from the sale of prints and 100% of the proceeds from the sale of cards will be donated to our comprehensive youth program, The Landing Place. Thank you Robin!
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Midcoast Women and the Rockland Public Library present: What's a Mother To Do?
The event will take place Thursday, June 22nd from 6-7:30 at the Rockland Public Library and via Zoom. Molly Feeney, Chief Program Officer at KCHC will be on the panel of speakers.
The event is free and open to the public.
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We are ramping up our volunteer program in time for summer!
More than 300 community volunteers have donated in excess of 3,000 hours of service to help clients and our organization. Volunteers are integral to our mission and to our ability to provide comprehensive services and programs.
We are currently seeking volunteers! If you are interested in volunteering with KCHC, please fill our out volunteer application form.
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Volunteer With Habitat!
We are teaming up with Midcoast Habitat for Humanity and Maine State Housing Authority to create our much-needed affordable housing venture which is finally underway at 165 Talbot Ave in Rockland. Volunteers are always needed!
Volunteers at Habitat construction sites work side-by-side with a crew leader and a partner family, helping with all aspects of home building and experiencing the joy created when a family realizes the dream of home ownership.
No experience is necessary – there are many tasks that require only a willingness to learn and work with others – but if you have it, great!
For more information visit: https://midcoasthabitat.org/volunteer/.
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The Landing Place
Located in the heart of downtown Rockland, The Landing Place youth center supports highly resilient and often marginalized youth living in Midcoast Maine.
For more information about the current schedule visit the TLP page on our website, call 207-466-9285, or email info@thelandingplaceme.org.
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We Are Hiring!
- Awake Night staff for our new Overnight Respite Shelter for Youth (full-time and part-time)
- Grants Manager
- Housing Navigator
- Shelter Support Staff (Per Diem)
- Youth Shelter Intake Support Staff
Click here for more info.
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Check our Facebook and Instagram every Wednesday for a list of items we are currently seeking for KCHC clients.
Currently, our team is only able to accept donations by appointment. If you are interested in donating new or like-new items to help community members in need please call (207) 593-8151 or email donations@homehelphope.org to schedule a time. Or click here for more info about donating goods and/or services.
Click here if you would like to sign up to receive weekly email alerts containing current Wishlist Wedneday items.
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Lasting Impressions:
INSPIRATION
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A recently graduated client emailed her Case Manager upon graduating —
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"I want to say thank you for everything you have done for me. I sit and recall everything that happened to me before you came into my life and between you and the Hospitality House how you all were so kind, giving, and compassionate toward my well being. I cannot thank you enough for being patient with me and uplifting. My hat goes off to you and all the workers who relentlessly keep going. Please extend my deepest and most sincerest gratitude to all who helped me. God bless you all. It's been a pleasure working with you. With sincere thoughts, Ellen."
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We, in turn, are continuously inspired by the courage and determination KCHC clients show in the face of what sometimes seem like insurmountable odds.
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