Above: Art by one of our young Hospitality House guests.
To our resilient, hopeful community, friends, and supporters,
The dragonfly—a symbol of change, transformation and self-realization. It teaches us to love life, to rejoice and have faith amidst of difficulties. Difficulties have surely been abundant this past year, especially among our most vulnerable. This pandemic has brought exponential need, and homelessness has permeated every level of our community from the elderly, to the young, to working class families.
It takes courage for a young child in our shelter, usually experiencing multiple layers of trauma, to dig deep to create colorful hopeful expression and voice through art. We honor this child’s expression of hope, for it embodies our mission and our work. We open doors to a hopeful future in the families we serve, by focusing on strengths, kindness, respect, strict rules, and dignity.
May the month of May find you hopeful, enjoying home and family more often, and able to safely enjoy warm breezes and a pathway to happier times.
About three weeks ago I received a text from a former client—a single mom with a young son. She wanted to share her pride in having saved enough for a down payment on a house for her young family, and having brought her credit score way up to ‘excellent’ levels. We are helping several families like hers identify the best doorways to financing options! This is the essence of what we do. We are breaking the cycle of hopelessness and homelessness for multiple generations at a time. This is just one example of the next generation, and the current changed forever.
Thank you all for making this happen. It is only with your support that we can continue this life saving and community changing work—and the need is increasing each and every day. Your team and board at KCHC is working not only on life saving emergency needs, but focusing on and investing time and resources into systemic change in critical areas like solutions to affordable housing and collaborative solutions to critical challenges.
With deepest gratitude and wishes for abundant smiles, good health, and enjoyment of hopeful spring breezes in the coming weeks for you and your families.
Executive Director, Knox County Homeless Coalition
Chair, Statewide Homeless Council
We Do It Differently:
HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MEETING NEED
It has been just over a year since the world turned upside down. As we recently reflected back on some of those darkest days in an annual review with one of our foundation supporters, we were reminded of just how much uncertainty each day held.
We were very fortunate in the early days of the pandemic that many of our loyal supporters, both individuals and foundations, were kind enough to release funding early, remove restrictions, and in some cases increase funding to meet these unforeseen needs. We even had a few individuals who shared a bit of their stimulus checks. That in turn allowed us to reassure moms and dads and individuals that though we didn't know when their unemployment check would arrive, that we'd be there weekly (or more often if needed) with food, diapers, art supplies, notes of encouragement, and a friendly albeit masked face.
2020 saw a 25% increase in suicidal thinking from the previous year with pediatric emergency admissions up 24% nationwide. 60% of psychologists reported seeing more depressive disorders and 74% of psychologists reported seeing more anxiety disorders across all ages compared with before the pandemic. Imagine piling all of that on top of not knowing where you're going to sleep tonight.
As these difficult realities struck the already vulnerable population we serve, KCHC and our supporters responded with all hands on deck. For the first time we are actively helping more than 550 people and have had as many as 41 households on a waitlist for case management services over the last year. We expect our community is going to need our increased support for a number of years as the Midcoast realizes the full economic impact of the last year. We ask that you consider as you are able to continue your support so that we can be there for those in need.
The #1 reason for homelessness here is the inability to find affordable housing
Couch surfing, which is common in our area, puts both parties at risk of homelessness
74% of households in Rockland are unable to afford the average 2-bedroom rent
63% of Knox county residents can’t afford the median priced home
Real estate sales in the Midcoast have risen 15.6% in the last year
In Maine there are only 51 available units for every 100 very low income renter households in need
There are a number of grass-roots affordable housing initiatives in the midcoast. If you would like to be connected to more information or receive direct updates from KCHC on our own affordable housing initiatives please click the button below and send us your contact info.
We want to thank our amazing leadership team and board members for the tireless dedication and hard work they put in on a daily basis on behalf of our clients and our organization as a whole. Although they weren't able to meet face to face, they adapted and found ways to continue to successfully support the growing need within our communities.
During this difficult time they have embodied our mission of a supportive community within which all families and individuals have the opportunity for housing and a sustainable productive life.
For clients we work with who have pets, many of them would rather sleep outside than give up their pet—they're family. An elderly couple we worked with last year were living in a camper after losing housing so they could stay with their dog. Not only was the camper unfit for habitation, but conditions there were exacerbating pre-existing medical issues. Our team helped them navigate disability insurance and helped them secure permanent housing in a pet-friendly community so they were able to keep their dog—a dream they hadn't thought was possible!
We were so excited when a client we began working with more than 4 years ago, after much commitment and perseverance, was recently able to achieve her long-term goal of moving from homelessness to homeownership and hope. Through some acute ups and downs this client reached out to KCHC when she didn’t know where else to turn. She is successfully chipping away at past debt and furthering her education. Recently, another client who we worked with more than 6 years ago reached out to us for guidance, ready to become a first-time homebuyer after finally getting their credit score up and saving for a downpayment.
These are prime examples of how long it can take to achieve the goals our clients set, and how dedicated they are to reaching their goals. It also underscores the need for community support as none of the outreach we do with former clients at this stage (which is critical to community-wide change) is publicly funded.
UPCOMING EVENTS, TRAININGS, AND OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES
Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program
Knox County Homeless Coalition has been selected as the beneficiary of the Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program! Each time the $2.50 reusable Community Bag is purchased at the Hannaford located at 145 Elm Street, Camden, ME during the month of May we will receive a $1 donation. Shoppers can also purchase a reusable Community Bag online with their groceries via the Hannaford-To-Go service.
Current programming at The Landing Place will align with CDC best practice protocols and recommendations from the Governor’s office. The activities are designed for middle and high school age students. For scheduling information and updates, visit our website, call: 207-466-9285, or email: info@thelandingplaceme.org .
Youth Center Activities This Spring Low-barrier, highly-relational opportunities to create connections with caring staff.
Virtual: make international friends while doing creative projects with a community center in Haiti during SAKALA, Wed. @ 3 PM
Remote: reach out to TLP staff to get regular phone calls or texts to encourage wellness and belonging in this distanced time
In Person: individual or small group mentoring with TLP staff, all outdoors, masked, and distanced
Walk & Talks: take a stroll and talk with one of our staff
Community-Minded Jobs: participate in service activities and receive a gift card for your time!
Art Therapy: set up one-on-one sessions with our Art Therapist (LCPC, ATR) free of charge!
Food Program Supplemental nutritional support delivered to families in the Midcoast area (RSU 40, RSU 13, FiveTowns)
Supply Deliveries: Regular drop-offs of shelf-stable food, hygiene products, art supplies, and enrichment activities
Comfort Food: FREE heat-and-serve comfort food from local restaurants delivered to your door! Deliveries made on Mondays and Fridays, first ask, first serve as supplies last.
Case Management & Independent Living Program Building stable living situations and offering connections to resources for youth experiencing unstable housing. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need shelter, food, supplies (school, hygiene, clothes), mental health support, connection with resources, etc!
We Are Hiring!
Knox County Homeless Coalition seeks caring, dedicated, and flexible team members to become a part of our mission-driven organization. If that's you, join us to create, implement, and improve programs to support the most vulnerable members of our community. Benefits include employer-supported health insurance plans, optional dental and vision plans, paid time off, and paid holidays, including your very own birthday as a paid day off (because you deserve it!). Click here for more info.
It Takes a Village:
OUR COLLABORATION & PARTNERSHIPS WARM BOTH BODY AND SOUL
Grants Received
We'd like to extend our gratitude to the Onion Foundation for their very generous grant to KCHC for a Mobile Makerspace to provide art instruction to our youth in rural locations.
We are also honored to be the recipient of one of 11 grants awarded by the John T. Gorman Foundation to help Maine organizations increase mental health, wellness, and community support opportunities for older youth during the pandemic. The funding comes in response to rising concerns about the well-being of young adults, who are suffering from the mental health effects of the prolonged pandemic as they are disconnected from school and other social supports. The 11 grants awarded by the Foundation will support organizations serving youth in eight counties of high need, as well as an initiative to support youth at Indian Township and a statewide organization serving LGBTQ youth. Read more here.
Cooking for Community Donates Warm, Nutritious Meals
1 in every 5 children living in the counties we serve is food insecure. With the pandemic, this need is even higher.
Thank you so much to Cooking for Community along with the restaurants Cafe Miranda, Boynton-Mckay Food Co., Home Kitchen Cafe, and North Beacon Oyster in their fight to ending hunger in Maine. The volunteer-based Cooking for Community raises money to bring together local restaurants to mitigate the impact of food insecurity within our communities. While also providing business and jobs for the participating restaurants, social service agencies like KCHC's The Landing Place are distributing upwards of 300 warm, nutritious meals weekly.
National Hug Day Campaign
This spring with your help, we were able to raise over $12,000 during our National Hug Day campaign – meeting and beating our $10,000 match!
Lasting Impressions:
WORDS OF APPRECIATION
Letters, like the one below from a former client, keep us energized and working hard on behalf of those we serve in our community. We couldn't do what we do without the generous support of our donors, our board, our staff, and our volunteers. We hope you are encouraged by these words as well. Thank you!
We wish you a happy, healthy spring and beyond!
As always, if you or someone you know and love needs assistance and is experiencing homelessness—please reach out to KCHC at 207-593-8151 or email us atinfo@homehelphope.org.
