BANGOR — Welcome To Housing is an all-volunteer alliance based in the Bangor region. It helps individuals, including veterans and families, who are moving from area shelter programs into permanent housing. The alliance helps by providing at no cost household goods for people in need.
In 2011, volunteers came forward to pick up where a grant had run out that helped people transitioning out of the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter. The response from the community was so strong that in May of 2012 the mission of the alliance was expanded to help any and all shelter programs.
Real estate broker and founding volunteer Chris Olsen said that the alliance now assists people from more than 40 agencies and recently assisted a family that lost their home to fire. “Working with one of the volunteers who heard about the family, [the alliance] contacted an area business that came forward and donated a rehabbed washer and electric range,” he said.
Apart from an occasional fluorescent light, Welcome To Housing has no overhead expenses. Using a “reverse inventory” and online resources from the Internal Revenue Service and The Salvation Army, another volunteer calculated that the alliance, between Sept. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2013, the alliance gave away more than $46,000 worth of home goods to people in need.
Welcome To Housing has volunteers from many resources, including students from Husson University and the University of Maine.
Welcome To Housing was honored recently with the Community Partner Award from the University of Maine Student Life-Bodwell Center for service and volunteerism. Houses of worship, clubs and civic organizations, and many businesses have helped the program continue to grow.
In 2015, Welcome To Housing plans to apply for 501(c)(3) non-profit status and remain an all-volunteer effort.
A Lunch and Learn will be held Friday, Oct. 24, in Bangor. Representatives from more than 40 agencies will be invited to take part in a panel discussion about becoming involved in the process to pursue nonprofit status. The event will be co-sponsored by Bangor Savings Bank, Fairmount Market and Pepsi Bottling Group.
The organization will hold its third annual Goods For Good drives 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, at Shaw’s Supermarket, Main Street in Bangor, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, at Sam’s Club in Bangor. A large truck loaned by Parker K. Bailey and Sons will be at each location as the drop-off point.
For information, go to WelcomeToHousing.com, find the organization on Facebook at Welcome To Housing Bangor, Maine, wth04401@yahoo.com, Twitter @welcome2housing or
at youtube.com/user/WelcomeToHousing.