A serious lack of space has been our most severe problem.

The only room we are able to use measures 24 X 36 feet and, although we use it to the best of our ability, it becomes very crowded on busy days. We have a small kitchenette for serving snacks and beverages and there are 2 bathrooms for our guests.  We offer the use of computers, puzzles, games and reading materials. There is often an ongoing card game, a chess match and on Thursdays a writing group meets.

We would like to add services such as literacy and smoking cessation classes, job search counseling, and wellness programs but we lack the space to do so.

In fact, we are also experiencing increasing demand from related agencies who need private meeting space in order to meet with their clients but, we are unable to meet this demand due to space constraints.

We have a solution in hand, however.

The Gathering Place knows it is very important to remain on the present campus with the Clothing Bank, the Food Pantry and the Soup Kitchen.

We have, therefore,  purchased, with our own funds, a building from The Seventh-day Adventist Church, just behind the building we presently occupy across from the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program and have been able to secure town permits to construct a brand new facility.

Our strategic location  presents us with the perfect opportunity to become a hub for services for the poor and homeless. The Mid Coast Hospital Walk-In Clinic is across the street while the Tedford Housing adult shelter for the homeless is but just a few blocks away.

The new building will provide about 2200sf of handicapped accessible space with a large open room, a kitchenette, bathrooms, private meeting spaces and an office and storage area. Energy efficiency will be designed into the building to minimize ongoing future operations costs. To accomplish this will require a budget of approximately $450,000.

The Gathering Place will be the new front door for services to the poor and homeless of our community.

We expect to break ground in the spring and occupy our new facility late this summer.

We believe that The Gathering Place, in its new home, will bring something new and important to the Brunswick Area.

By teaming up with local agencies like Tedford, Oasis and Mid Coast Hospital we can can bring services directly to people rather than the other way around.