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| Dear Friends,
At Homeworthy, we believe that community is more than just a word. It’s the heartbeat of everything we do. It shows up in the neighbor who offers a ride, the volunteer who lends their time, and the donor who helps keep the lights on for a family in crisis. Time and time again, we’re reminded that healing and hope happen when we show up for each other.
Once again, we asked our community to show up for us, and you did. In last month’s newsletter, we put out a call to folks who had the capacity to help us build up a fund for urgent needs - things like tents, tarps, sleeping bags, and other life-saving items that are often needed at a moment’s notice. We go through these supplies quickly and having a designated fund set aside so that case managers and our Urgent Needs Coordinator can quickly purchase the items is HUGE for us. Our community came through and helped us build this fund and we should be able to purchase these items for the remainder of 2025. Truly, we are in awe of how people show up for each other time and time again.
This month, we’re thrilled to celebrate the spirit of connection and community with the upcoming Rockport Music Festival! This event will be a joyful gathering of local musicians, good food, and great company, all in support of the people we serve. Whether you're dancing in the crowd, volunteering behind the scenes, or simply spreading the word, your presence helps build the kind of community where everyone has a place to belong.
Thank you for being a part of this work. Together, we’re making our community not just stronger, but more compassionate and resilient. |
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| Molly Feeney Executive Director, Homeworthy |
| | | | “We Can’t Arrest Our Way Out of Homelessness”: Law Enforcement Calls for Statewide Support In a recent Bangor Daily News op-ed, law enforcement officials from across Maine put out a call to action: the state must do more to fund emergency shelters. Officers described the impossible position they’re often placed in, responding to people in crisis with no safe place to send them, especially in rural areas where shelters are few or nonexistent. |
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| At Homeworthy, we know this reality all too well. Every day, we see the urgent need for coordinated, compassionate care. When people experiencing homelessness are left with nowhere to turn, it puts pressure on police, service providers, and already-overburdened shelters alike.
This op-ed specifically calls for support of LD 698, a bill that would sustain critical emergency shelter funding statewide. This kind of structural investment is essential to building a more effective, humane response to homelessness, one that meets people where they are and connects them with real pathways to stability. |
| | | Rockport Music Festival is THIS WEEKEND! |
| | This Sunday, June 22, from 12-7PM, the Rockport Music Festival, sponsored by Homeworthy, is taking place at the Rockport Common (corner of Rte 1 and West St)!
We have an awesome lineup of local musicians, including Maurita Lord, Orville Lee, JonBoy Nemo, Ouvre, Adam Messier, Matt Pajaczkowski, Rockin’ Blue Geezers, Trisha Mason, Mateo Mendoza, PHOG, Polyjamorous, and Subatomic. Plus, we’ll have local vendors selling tie-dye clothing, jewelry, handmade cigar box guitars, glass-blown art, and more! |
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| Tickets are $10, and kids twelve and under get in free! We’ll have food and beverage available and we are also running a raffle - prizes include a week of Sailing Camp, gift cards to local eateries, and a hotel stay at 250 Main in Rockland! This event is not to be missed. All proceeds go toward helping midcoast folks find housing. |
| | | | | Thank you so much to local craftswoman Sue Hufnagel for donating five cozy, handmade quilts! It’s gestures like this that remind us how special our community is. These quilts will be raffled off as prizes at the upcoming Rockport Music Festival! Don’t miss out on your chance to get one - a little touch of handmade love makes a big difference! |
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| | | | A huge thank you to the team at Cedarworks for donating a swing set to Firefly Field! Firefly Field is the housing community recently built on Talbot Ave in Rockland in partnership with Midcoast Habitat for Humanity and MaineHousing. A group of Homeworthy team members gathered at Cedarworks HQ last week on a rainy day to help take apart and move the set over to the apartments on Talbot Ave. We also received a wood chip donation for the base of the play set from Hoppe’s Tree Service out of Tenant’s Harbor! Thank you to these local businesses for stepping up to support Homeworthy and the folks living at Firefly Field. |
| | Last month, we put out a call on our social media and weekly Wednesday wishlist emails for a client who had recently moved into the Hospitality House shelter. She was looking for clothing, as she had very few possessions when she moved in. The kind folks at Serendipity Fine Consignment in Camden saw the call and put together a lovely care package of clothing in her size and dropped it off at our shelter. This gesture allowed her to feel welcomed in her new space and new community. Thank you! |
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| The Landing Place Thank You BBQ |
| | A huge shoutout to everyone who was able to attend The Landing Place’s “Thank You So Much” BBQ Celebration on June 5! It was a special gathering celebrating our community's graduating classes of 2025 (elementary, middle, and high school), as well as all the staff and volunteers who help TLP run successfully throughout the year.
There was a great turnout with roughly 110 community members gathering together in the backyard on a beautiful sunny day - half of whom were local youth and half of whom were made up of a notably diverse range of community stakeholders - and it was an uplifting reminder of how good it feels when we're able to come together to celebrate what we have in common in community-minded ways.
A few extra big shoutouts to: Mark G, for once again doing such an outstanding job of DJing the event for us Swathi, Liv, and Tanner for doing such a stellar job of effectively and creatively facilitating our Youth Engagement activities The amazing culinary team at DRY DOCK for preparing a spectacular BBQ spread for us  !
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| | | Supporter Spotlight: Hannah Faesy |
| | Hannah Faesy has been a longtime supporter of Homeworthy and The Landing Place, first coming in contact with TLP during her time as a social worker at RSU13. We asked her a few questions about why she chooses to work with Homeworthy and what the work means to her.
Q: How long have you been aware of Homeworthy/The Landing Place? How did you first get involved as a donor/volunteer/etc? A: I became aware of Homeworthy with the birth of The Landing Place. I was tasked with planning the freshman community building field trip during my time as a social worker for Oceanside High School. It was the first year of TLP, and Britta and Joseph volunteered to chaperone various activities through their roles at TLP. I remember that the day after the trip, Joseph sent me an email expressing gratitude for the opportunity and naming something he learned or appreciated about every single student he chaperoned on the hike. I was floored by his memory, care, and dedication to our young people - and I’ve been a committed partner to TLP and Homeworthy ever since.
Not only did Homeworthy and TLP provide case management services, transportation, housing navigation, emergency shelter assistance, and after-school drop-in support to students from Oceanside, they were a reliable referral for all of these things for me as the social worker supporting these students.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about working with Homeworthy? A: The professional relationships I have built with staff at Homeworthy feel more like friendships at this point. People work there because they believe in what they are doing. The shared intent to care for our community has gone a long way, not only for me to trust the work of Homeworthy, but also for the building of client trust. Many students and families who have utilized the services of Homeworthy feel validated in their experiences and supported in their growth. Something I appreciate about the Homeworthy organization is the systemic understanding that unstable housing impacts every part of someone's life. They take a holistic approach to their methods of support, which makes all the difference.
Q: What’s something you wish the general public knew/understood more about this work and rural homelessness? A: It's a different beast than homelessness in a more urban setting! So often it's invisible to neighbors and friends. People are living out of their cars, off the couches of a friend, at a campsite for the summer. It impacts people that we all know and care about, even if we can't "see" it.
I also wish that people wouldn't jump to a conclusion that there is one fix, or an "easy fix" to someone finding housing. "Just get a job" is not the answer - where should someone shower to go to the interview? How do they get themselves to the interview? What address should they put on their W-4? Do they still have possession of valid forms of ID? Will they make enough money to save up for a security deposit on an apartment? Do they have access to health care to treat their needs in order to maintain attendance at work? Where will their children go while they're at work when school isn't in session? These questions go on and on. Assuming there's an easy fix is overlooking the humanity of our neighbors and the challenges they are facing.
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| | We’re so thankful to you, our community. |
| As always, if you or someone you know and love needs assistance and is experiencing homelessness—please reach out to Homeworthy at 207-593-8151 or email us at info@homeworthy.org. |
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