Bekah McIntyre of Biddeford and other volunteers sift through clothing donations at Maine Needs in Portland on Thursday. "We completely get the mission," she said. Drew Johnson / Sentry/Leader
Food, water and shelter - our three most basic needs as human beings.
But what about everything else? Clothing, cleaning supplies, body wash, shampoo, feminine hygiene products, pots, pans, plates, silverware, pillows, blankets, sheets, children's books, strollers and more.
When you're struggling to put food on the table or a roof over your head, there's no room in the budget for these other essentials many take for granted. That's where Maine Needs, a Portland-based nonprofit, comes in.
"Our mission is to make sure that we help people that are going without their basic needs (to) meet those basic needs," said Scarborough's Angela Stone, founder and executive director of Maine Needs. "We make sure that donations reach someone who really needs them at no cost."
Caseworkers, nurses, teachers and other professionals can request a list of items on behalf of families in need and Maine Needs compiles the items to be picked up and delivered. Since 2020, the nonprofit has distributed over 900,000 items, filling over 34,000 requests. They currently serve about 3,000 people per month across all 16 of Maine's counties, Stone said.
However, Maine Needs' facility at 332 Forest Ave. in Portland is "bursting at the seams," said Heather Tracy, logistics and inventory manager.
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Volunteers search for items at Maine Needs in Portland on Thursday. The current space limits their stock and the number of volunteers the organization can accommodate, and staff and volunteers say they need more of both. Drew Johnson / Sentry/Leader
"We're just growing exponentially and we're absolutely bursting at the seams right now," Tracy said. "I have never seen so many requests. We're trying to fill them all, but it's hard to do right now in this space."
Maine Needs has signed a lease on a new 16,000-square-foot building at 2385 Congress St. They plan to transition from their current location early next year and Stone says it will be enough to accommodate more items and more volunteers. They are raising $1.5 million toward that new space and to fully stock it for up to three years. While they are searching for grant funding and other large-sum donations, 81% of all donations to Maine Needs come from individuals.
"This is still very much a grassroots, community-funded nonprofit," Stone said. "We really need to lean on that in this moment."
The current building is a maze. Tight aisles surrounded by shelves stacked with essentials make it difficult for volunteers to navigate the space and find the items a family has requested. It also puts a limit on how many items they're able to have in stock and how many volunteers can be accommodated per shift - currently 16. The "office" for Maine Needs' five paid employees is a table and five chairs in the corner of a storage area.
Storage is a major barrier as well. The organization will fill its shelves with towels, shoes and cleaning products and, within days, Stone said, they're out because they don't have enough room to store even a week's worth of items. The same goes for the number of camping supplies, such as tents, tarps and sleeping bags, they supply for unhoused people.
Tents, tarps and sleeping bags are some of the items Maine Needs supplies for unhoused people. Drew Johnson / Sentry/Leader
"In the beginning, sometimes we'd get requests in the morning and we'd be able to say, 'Come in this afternoon,'" Stone said. "Right now, people wait more like four to six days, and these needs are urgent needs: It's people that are sleeping outside without a tent or people that are going without body soap or diapers for their little one."
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The limited space means they have to turn away some donations. In winter, they only have enough space to accommodate winter clothing, and vice versa for summer.
"Usually, people like to go through their entire house once a year and they like to bring their swimsuits along with a winter coat their kids have outgrown," Stone said. "The new space will allow us to take in things year-round."
Bekah McIntyre of Biddeford was introduced to Maine Needs in 2020 as a case manager supervisor and was volunteering on Thursday.
"One of the things we really love about it is the fact that everything is high quality," McIntyre said. "We can trust that people are going to get things that they're going to be able to use."
McIntyre said she is in a new role now and the business she works for allots time for employees to volunteer.
Where to volunteer was an easy decision, she said.
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"Today I'm here with four of my colleagues and we're all volunteering because we completely get the mission and support the work they're doing," McIntyre said.
Larry Simpson of South Portland started volunteering over a year ago after he dropped off a donation.
"I saw what was going on here a little bit and I thought it was a good cause," Simpson said. "I come here twice a week, usually, and I really enjoy it. I enjoy the people here and it's a good cause."
Simpson is also looking forward to Maine Needs' new base of operations.
"It's a little overwhelmed right now," he said. "We need more people and more space."
The organization is also worthy of more paid employees, Simpson said, which could further increase efficiency.
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However, Stone said they try to keep their staff as small as possible. Maine Needs began as a Facebook group in 2019 before becoming an official nonprofit in 2020. They didn't hire their first employee until 2022 and Stone's position as founder and executive director didn't become a paid position until July of this year.
"We really do prioritize the money going towards the project, the mission and buying material goods that are needed," Stone said. "We just need more people to join in and help us build."
Stone said she sees Maine Needs as a "safety net" - one that can be cast much wider in their new home.
"I see this as a community safety net for the entire state of Maine," she said. "We do serve all 16 counties and how do we grow that safety net? How do we continue to be something that really can offer support to a lot of people?"
This new space, she said, is part of the answer.
"Our goal is lofty, but it's a direct reflection of the real needs we see every day. If we don't ask, who will ask?" Stone said. "We believe in the impossible, that's how we got here."
To learn more about Maine Needs and how to contribute to the $1.5 million campaign, donate or volunteer, go to maineneeds.org.
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filed under: American Journal News, Forecaster News, Lakes Region Weekly News, Leader News, Northern Forecaster news, Portland Forecaster news, portland maine, Sentry News, volunteerism
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