Rotary surpasses shelter goal
Staff photo/Mark Putnam
EXCEEDS GOAL — At this year’s 65th annual Presque Isle Rotary Club’s Radio/TV Auction, which wrapped up last Thursday night, the $25,000 special project goal was surpassed. By the end of the night, $26,555 had been raised for Homeless Services of Aroostook. Funds will be used to purchase new beds and personal lockers for the local homeless shelter. Updating the fund-raising barometer are, from left: Sonja Plummer Morgan, special project co-chair; Stephen Eyler, executive director of Homeless Services of Aroostook; and Martin Puckett, special project co-chair.
PRESQUE ISLE — Individuals staying at the local homeless shelter will soon be able to sleep a little easier — and more comfortably — in new beds that will be purchased thanks to the success of the recent Presque Isle Rotary Club’s Radio/TV Auction.
This year’s special project goal of $25,000 was earmarked for the purchase of new beds and personal lockers.
According to Stephen Eyler, executive director of Homeless Services of Aroostook, adding bunk beds will increase the shelter’s existing capacity.
“We can’t expand the building. We can’t go out; we can only go up, so by adding bunk beds we are increasing our bed count from 30 beds to 43 beds,” he said. “That’s going to increase our capacity by about 50 percent.
“Along with the beds, the footlockers are an added security measure in order for folks to have a place to lock up their personal belongings,” said Eyler. “The space inside the shelter is very, very limited and so with the bunk beds, we’re going to better utilize space and increase capacity, but with the footlockers that will be stored underneath the beds, their personal belongings can be kept a lot more securely that way.”
To date, nearly $27,000 has been raised through the Rotary auction for the special project.
Homeless Services of Aroostook served over 220 individuals last year.
“For a typical day, we would have between 20-24 individuals, family members and children here in the house,” said Eyler. “In today’s society, it’s the families that we get calls from day after day needing shelter and needing our assistance. It’s typically young families that are looking for help … single mothers with children. Last year we housed 59 children through the course of the year.
“The services that we provide are absolutely needed in the county, and we’re the only homeless shelter in the county. The funding that we get is cut from the state, from federal, from all over the place, and our ability to meet the need in the county is growing harder and harder as each month goes by,” he said. “We rely on the generosity of the public, of civic organizations, of our local friends and neighbors to help us in trying to grow our ability to meet the need of the county since we are the only shelter. We’re just trying to keep the doors open.”
Eyler wishes to thank the community for its support during the recent 65th annual auction.
“On behalf of the board, the staff and the volunteers of Homeless Services of Aroostook, but more importantly the families, children and individuals who come to us for help, thank you,” he said. “Thank you Rotarians, and thank you to everyone who pledged. Thank you that we live in a community that cares.”
Special project co-chair Martin Puckett said he was extremely happy that community members pulled together for a worthwhile cause.
“It just goes to show how great a community this is … that the local community, business people and the residents all come together and put money toward a great project that benefits their friends and neighbors,” he said.
Puckett said when he first went to work for Presque Isle as its deputy city manager, Eyler invited him on a tour of the shelter.
“I was amazed by what I saw. I saw families and children. I went right before meal time and I saw how the volunteers were in the kitchen helping prepare homecooked meals … making things from scratch as a way to save money. The bedrooms are crammed with as many beds in them as possible. It is a small space with small rooms,” he said.
“Upstairs has a computer lab and there were multiple people there working on resumes and searching job hunting websites. They were actively pursuing employment and trying to get back on their feet,” said Puckett, “and that’s what really impressed me so much, and when Ralph McPherson, auction co-chair, asked if I’d co-chair the special project, I readily said, ‘Yes.’ It’s such a great cause and there’s a passion for it.”
Puckett co-chaired the special project with Sonja Plummer Morgan.
