ROCKPORT, Maine — Rochelle Kenney said the Midcoast Hospitality House in Rockland turned her life around.
“It’s awesome,” said Kenney, who came to the homeless shelter in Rockport last year as a resident.
Kenney said addiction played a role in her ending up homeless, but the services she received at the Hospitality House helped her break that cycle. Now she is living independently and is working at the shelter, doing everything from clerical duties to teaching crafts to young mothers who are residents.
“The love and support from everyone here helped me turn it around,” she said.
The Hospitality House celebrated its first anniversary of reopening this week. Executive Director Stephanie Primm said the goal of Hospitality House is to take a holistic approach to the needs of people who end up at their doorstep, then help them break the cycle of homelessness and become productive citizens.
There were 16 people at the shelter Friday. Since reopening under new management and a new mission, 146 people have stayed at the Hospitality House — a renovated farmhouse on Old County Road in Rockport near the townline with Rockland — as well as two hotels used by the organization.
But the only homeless shelter in Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties has served 466 people overall through services it provides. In addition to sheltering people at the Rockport house, the nonprofit organization has agreements with two Route 1 Rockport motels — Seven Mountains Motel and the Ledges — to put people up who have no home. Up to 11 people can be served in this manner at a time.
But Primm said no one is turned away for services when they come to the door, even if the shelter is full. She said if someone is couch surfing at the homes of relatives, friends or acquaintances, Hospitality House will provide other services.
Those people may be given a box of food, toiletries, gasoline cards and phone cards or set up with other services, such as mental health counseling.
There is a staff member on duty around the clock at the house who greets people who arrive. Primm said it was important to make people comfortable.
“People who come here are in dire straits,” she said.
Case managers will sit down and talk with the them and find out not just about their current situation but who they are as people.
Wendy MacDougall, a case manager who oversees the other case managers, said those who come to the house need to know they will get help.
“A lot of doors have been shut on them,” MacDougall said.
Prim agreed, saying it is a pivotal time in their lives.
Of the 146 people who have been residents at the house, only one person has fallen off the track and returned to a homeless situation, she said. Of those, 122 have made the transition to independent housing. Primm said 45 percent of those people were children.
The programs offered include educational ones to help people earn their general education development certificate. Cooking and nutrition classes are provided to residents in the house, which has two first-floor kitchens. Yoga classes are offered each week.
Since opening, the house received a 12-passenger van, donated by Darling’s of Bangor. That van allows staff to take residents to medical appointments, counseling, career training and job interviews. The house also takes children for recreational activities, such as to the Play Days indoor play center in Rockland or the Snow Bowl in Camden. The children also are taken to Head Start classes.
Primm said staff will determine what the barriers are for each person, then come up with a plan to help them overcome those obstacles.
“For many of the residents, this is the first time they have peer support,” Primm said.
While the reasons behind each person ending up at the Hospitality House are different, Primm and MacDougall said many of the women and children who arrive have been victims of domestic violence.
Nearly half the residents are children.
The success of the Hospitality House is the result of tremendous support from the community, Primm said. Churches, individuals and civic leaders have stepped up and given financial support, donation of supplies and time.
Primm was a business woman who helped companies rebrand themselves before she moved to Maine a little more than a year ago. She said she wanted to do something more meaningful with her life. The people who were working to reopen the shelter approached her and asked whether she would serve as executive director.
She said there was some rebranding to do with the Hospitality House when she arrived, but now that the word is out, the shelter is a welcoming place for all.
The region’s shelter reopened in February after a 15-month hiatus. The Hospitality House closed in November 2012 with no notice or explanation.
The new nonprofit organization leases the shelter from the Maine State Housing Authority, which holds the mortgage on the property. The board consists of representatives of local churches, New Hope for Women, a vocational training specialist and others from the community.
Primm said it is wonderful when someone becomes independent after staying at the house. Former resident Kenney agreed.
One of the current residents is already trying to gain independence and start her own business. The young woman has created a Facebook page with her mother to sell knitted products the daughter makes. The products include hats, quilts and afghans. The page — Creative Creations — is the start of what the woman hopes will be a successful business.