The Gathering Place
Whether we go to school, to work, or to our homes, we take for granted that we have a place to be during the day. Without The Gathering Place, many of our town’s deeply poor and often homeless don’t have this luxury. Even those who are lucky enough to find a shelter bed for the night, are pushed outside when the sun comes up. Seeking work or education becomes impossible if they don’t even have a place to
charlene wash their face. And for many who are older or suffer mental or physical illnesses there simply is nowhere to go. They seek refuge in libraries that don’t have the resources to help them or in parks as passerbys turn a blind eye. The revolving door of homelessness provides no security, no foundation for change and no opportunity for coordinated services.
The Gathering Place was founded in Brunswick, Maine in 2010 to give shelter, friendship and hope to the materially poor or homeless. On its first day, The Gathering Place received 7 visits. Now on a typical day, we warmly welcome between 50 and 70 guests. In four years, we have been visited over 50,000 times. “We, the homeless, have fallen beyond that invisible, fine line that circumstances have caused us to pass over. Once there it becomes a war that we struggle to fight and win. For some it is temporary, but for others it is ongoing and almost impossible to win, so we give up.� - Charlene
90 hours of compassion. Our volunteers offer invaluable opportunities to develop real relationships and vital connections. And they generously offer a collective total of 90 hours of their time per week. They are well-trained and comfortable managing complicated situations, but mostly we find they get as much compassion and camaraderie as they give. We have 45 committed volunteers and 3 are always on duty.
We provide a safe, welcoming and comfortable space for people to gather in downtown Brunswick where we offer our guests respect, encouragement, companionship and hope.
A man, 72 and blind in one eye, walks for miles to come here nearly every day to ease his loneliness. A woman has a schizophrenic son and an injured husband who can’t work. She can barely pay her electric bill, yet she lovingly wraps individual pairs of socks so that everyone here will have a holiday gift. They come for different reasons, but they are welcome all the same.
The Gathering Place serves a diverse group, which includes seniors on fixed incomes, veterans, individuals with disabilities and others. Many struggle with physical or mental/emotional disabilities or suffer from chronic health issues that are left untreated. A few are able to work part-time in low skilled, low paying jobs. Every day is a challenge where they face discrimination and abuse in the search for the most basic of human necessities. But at The Gathering Place they find a sanctuary, free of judgment and full of hope. Here they find others who share their experiences and their dreams. From simple card games to life skills classes and much more, we fill lonely daytime hours with positive energy, respect, and possibility.
We are currently sharing space, operating four days a week at the Clothing Bank on Union Street and shifting to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Community Room on Wednesdays. Our space measures only 24x36 feet making it very crowded and limiting our ability to offer more collaborative services like literacy support, career advice and educational classes. We have just purchased property where we will build our new home, on the campus with Mid Coast Hunger Prevention and the Clothing Bank. Easily accessible to everyone, including agencies we collaborate with. Our new home will offer something new and important to Brunswick: a hub for serving the interests of people who are poor or homeless. By teaming up with local businesses, Midcoast Hunger Prevention, Tedford Housing, Oasis Free Clinic and Mid Coast Hospital, we can bring services to the people who need them. With your help, we will become the missing link—connecting people living in deep poverty and homelessness to services and building a community where they are always welcome.
“The Gathering Place is more than a sanctuary. Without it, some of us would be going back to gas station bathrooms. There are things you can’t experience and can’t talk about unless you have to live on the edge.” - Mitch
“I am 60 years old and my husband, two sons, and I are living in my car. I was a social worker helping others and now I am ashamed. I’m living in a drug-infested neighborhood, a victim of abuse. Nobody helps me, why didn’t anyone tell me about The Gathering Place sooner?” -Anonymous
We’re asking you to answer the call. Together we can give our poor and homeless, the refuge, comfort, resources and hope they all deserve.
“The Gathering Place, is a treasure to behold where the homeless, the jobless, the young, the old, some with such sad eyes, and others determined to make it. In a world that does not welcome all, not willing to hear a desperate call. Why do I volunteer at The Gathering Place? I feel I can help here in answering the call.� - June
The Gathering Place P.O. Box 171 Brunswick, Maine 04011 (207) 729-0288 brunswickgatheringplace.org