HOULTON, Maine — Whether you’re looking for information on health, home safety, or heating assistance, you just might find what you need at the Cross Resource Cafe at St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Houlton.
“This puts a lot of resources in one place, whether we’re looking at medical, educational, legal, housing, ACAP (Aroostook County Action Program), whatever,” said Lynette Dobbs, cafe coordinator.
The cafe operates Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 9 to 11 a.m., the same hours as Mildred’s Food Pantry and a nutrition education program, also located in the parish hall. The cafe provides a place for patrons picking up groceries, or anyone who wants to stop in, enjoy a cup of coffee, engage in a little conversation, and learn about the services available in southern Aroostook County.
The cafe opened in October 2018, thanks in part to a $1,000 grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which was used for training. This year, another CCHD grant, for $970, will allow the program to expand.
The parish is seeking to educate and involve more parishioners. It wants the café to have a semi-permanent setup, so that volunteers don’t have to continually arrange and take down displays, and it would like to create an office, so that patrons will have privacy if they wish to discuss personal issues or contact an agency.
Spread through the cafe are dozens of brochures and pamphlets. Guests will find information on assisted living, bus schedules, career advancement, disability services, educational programs, finances, and more.
“I find the elderly are looking for diabetes information, rides,” said Judy Porter of Houlton, one of the volunteers. “They’re not so interested in heat, food, whatever. They’re more interested in medical, while the younger ones who come in are more interested in securing their home.”
“Somebody can come in and say, ‘OK, I’m looking for such and such,’ and they’ll just browse,” added Dobbs. “Sometimes, people don’t even know what they’re looking for, and they’ll be browsing, and they’ll go, ‘Oh wow. Look at this. I could use that.”
In addition to connecting people with resources, the volunteers said there is another important aspect to the cafe — making those who visit the food pantry feel more at ease and welcome.
“The other benefit is being seen as a person and just being accepted and loved and having a sense of belonging,” said Dobbs.
“Basically, that is what I do – try to get a conversation going with the men. Sometimes, we talk for quite a while,” said Ray Gladu, from Sherman, another volunteer. “We all need someone to share our story with. It’s part of human nature I think.”
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is the United States Bishops’ anti-poverty initiative. CCHD grants are awarded to programs aimed at helping people make sustainable change. The program is supported each year through a collection taken up in parishes across the country. While seventy-five percent of the money raised goes to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 25% remains within a diocese to support local programs, such as the one at St. Mary of the Visitation Parish.
In the Diocese of Portland, the program is administered by Catholic Charities Maine Parish Social Ministry. This year, in addition to St. Mary of the Visitation Parish, grants went to 10 other parishes: the Parish of the Precious Blood in Caribou received a $750 grant for its parish social ministry program, H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People Eagerly). The parish is seeking to better integrate H.O.P.E.’s mission with the work being done by the city’s food pantry and Bread of Life Soup Kitchen. That will include helping patrons learn how to prepare healthy meals and offering financial wellness workshops.
The mission of Parish Social Ministry is to provide leadership, guidance, Catholic social teaching education, and training to empower parishioners to compassionately serve people of all faiths living in their communities.
For more information, contact Michael Smith, director of mission for Catholic Charities Maine, at (207) 523-2772 or msmith@ccmaine.org.
