ALFRED — For many of the summer visitors staying at campgrounds and camps at nearby lakes, Friday night is a special night out.

They drive up Shaker Hill to partake in the Mama Mia all-you-can-eat pasta and pizza dinner. The dinners, held at Henry Hall on the campus of the York County Shelter Programs, have been offered for 26 years with proceeds benefitting shelter programs.

Dinners are held every Friday night from early June through the middle of August.

“We have people who consider the dinner part of their summer experience in Maine,” says Scott Davis, YCSP’s director of food services.

Davis and his staff make a variety of spaghetti sauces and pizzas from scratch. They also make bread, salads and homemade pie and on average, the staff serves 40 people at each dinner.

The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children 3 to 11, and free for children under 3.

“The Mama Mia dinners have not only raised funds for us – they also create awareness about York County Shelter Programs,” says Diane Gerry, YCSP’s Chief of Operations Officer.

Just a few hundred feet down the road from Henry Hall is the adult shelter, which provides emergency housing for 37 adults. A house in Sanford offers emergency housing for families; it has accommodations for up to 16 people and on any given night, both shelters are usually full.

York County Shelter Programs was started 40 years ago, in the abandoned county jail in Alfred. It went from providing a bed and the bare essentials to becoming an agency that helps people improve their circumstances.

“Every resident is paired with a navigator who can help someone address the issues that led to homelessness,” Gerry said. “We help people with mental health issues, addiction recovery, employment issues. Our goal is to help people find affordable and permanent housing. We have acquired housing units over the years that allow us to offer people affordable living situations, plus we help people access other housing programs.”

Homelessness is prevalent in the United States and according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, about 553,000 people were homeless on a single night in January of 2018. This is an increase in numbers, for the second year in a row.

About two-thirds of the homeless individuals stayed in shelters or transitional housing, while one third were “unsheltered” – meaning they slept on the street, in cars, abandoned buildings, woods and other makeshift places.

Last year YCSP provided shelter to about 700 people. The agency includes a food pantry, at 5 Swetts Bridge Road in Alfred, which feeds about 3,000 people a month.

The demand for YCSP’s services increases every year, Gerry notes. “We are always seeking ways to help as many people as possible,” she says. “Events such as the Mama Mia dinners help us continue to offer help.”