BRUNSWICK

On any given day at The Gathering Place — the daytime drop-in center on Union Street — you can see people socializing, playing games or reading. Daily, between 50-70 guests use the center, whose mission is to provide a place where the very poor, the vulnerable and the homeless are treated with respect, according to Chick Carroll, who helps run the center.

Those numbers have been steadily growing, facilitating the need for an ambitious $450,000 fundraising campaign to build a new facility behind their current location.

“We have a place where they come and they may spend some or all of the day and they’re totally welcomed and totally treated with respect — that’s our mission,” Carroll said.

Inside the large, open room that makes up the space, there are computers, games, magazines, snacks and coffee. Carroll said the decision to forgo a television was made to eliminate conflicts over what to watch and to encourage guests to socialize.

Three staff members or volunteers are on duty at all times the facility is open on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Carroll said most people who go to The Gathering Place are in subsidized housing, stay at Tedford Shelter or sleep outside. Others are couch surfing at different homes. It’s all a continuum of homelessness that keeps people in a cycle.

“Most of these folks are disabled in some way — mentally, physically, emotionally. Some hold a job. Some get a job but can’t hold it. Almost all the jobs they get are minimum wage jobs, so they can’t live on a minimum wage job,” Carroll said.

According to Carroll, outside help, such as case workers or public health advocates, would like to come into the facility, but it’s current configuration is less than conducive to privacy needs.

“The building we’re designing has spaces that we can use for many purposes. Some with portable walls that we can make small rooms for case worker conferences or medical screenings,” Carroll said.

The building project involves demolishing the structure currently behind The Gathering Place and rebuilding. Remaining in the same location is ideal for Carroll, as the soup kitchen is still just across the parking lot.

He said that they are about halfway to their $450,000 goal and, according to their fundraising consultant, if they can raise two-thirds of the cost through quiet, larger donors, the remaining third can readily be raised through smaller, public outreach.

Caroll said a contractor has already been chosen and they hope to break ground this spring.

Across the room, talking with a group of friends, regular visitor Alex Powell had an adventurous life before ending up homeless.

Powell played football in high school and for Grambling State University in Louisiana. He worked in the fishing industry in Alaska and on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, Africa, Brazil and Trinidad.

“I was homeless at the shelter and I’ve been coming ever since,” Powell said. “It gives people hope and breaks the monotony of just walking around all day long. They can come here and get something hot to eat and talk to good company, good people that might be able to point them in the right direction.”

Powell’s not from Maine, something he said compounded his difficulties when times got tough. With no support system in place or family to turn to, tough times and health problems drove Powell to the streets. Powell said poor health kept him from doing the work he was accustomed to.

Having had multiple surgeries on his feet over the last five years due to his diabetes, Powell was left with a total of only six toes.

“But I’m happy — life could be a whole lot worse than what it is but thank God there’s a place like The Gathering Place. Thank God for people like Chick Carroll and a staff that helps people to overcome certain situations,” Powell said.

Powell said he is a social person, and having worked on ships and oil rigs in close proximity to his crew and coworkers. The Gathering Place gives him a place to talk to people.

Powell is staying at Tedford, but hopes by the end of next month to have an apartment of his own — something he said will tip the balance and give him a place to take care of himself and better manage his medications.

“I’ve got lots of friends here — I don’t regret a thing. Sometimes we have to go through this to get to where we need to be at in life,” Powell said with a smile.

Charlene, who asked that her last name be withheld, has transitioned from a homeless guest of The Gathering Place to volunteer. She said after finding herself and her family homeless five times in the past, she wants to give a little back. She said having gone through homelessness, some of the people who come in may be more comfortable talking with someone who knows where they’re coming from.

Charlene said her husband was a licensed plumber and when one job would end, sometimes there wouldn’t be any new income. It was ultimately finances — or the lack thereof, that put her family on the streets.

“There’s always a fine line. You don’t have to have an addiction to become homeless. It could take a major catastrophe like medical illness or mental illness or where people just lose everything,” Charlene said.

To make matters worse, Charlene said it makes you feel like less of a person and that other members of the community are more than willing to let you believe that because you aren’t working and contributing.

“There’s always that worry. Will it be tomorrow — will it ever happen again? Everyone that’s homeless — we all come from different walks and talks of life, but the fact still remains we all have one thing in common,” Charlene said.

It’s a struggle, she said, that makes many give up. Charlene said many who find themselves homeless can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. She said that’s what draws her to The Gathering Place — to help give others hope.

dmcintire@timesrecord.com