Brunswick day shelter a respite for the homeless

BRUNSWICK — There’s a place in Brunswick that offers a warm cup of coffee, someone to listen, and a whole community to get to know.

The Gathering Place opened in 2011, with the simple mission of providing an outlet for those without a home or someone to talk to a place to go. Volunteers count the amount of people who come through the doors, but after that as long as you follow the rules you’re welcomed within the community.

“Our volunteers are here for guests that want to chat or need help finding resources,” said Director Mary Connolly. “We try to to help navigate those connections if we can, but its’ really just a place where people can come and be comfortable. That was the mission behind it, it was a place for people to come and a community evolved around that.”

The Gathering Place closes at 3 p.m., but is weighing how to extend its volunteer hours so it can become more than a daytime shelter. That early planning is happening in the midst of a town council vote to delay Tedford Housing’s planned construction of a new shelter. With a six-month moratorium set to expire, the council will decide whether to extend it up to an additional six months during its meeting at 7 p.m. tonight.

Tedford’s push to expand its services for the area’s homeless population and the town’s efforts to slow it down to set rules for such developments, have brought the issue of homelessness in the area into focus.

The Gathering Place has averaged about 87 visitors per day visiting the center, located on Tenney Way between the Midcoast Hunger Prevention program and the Seventh-Day Adventist clothing bank, the center offers a host of dedicated volunteers willing to help.

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