Fair Tide, Footprints Food Pantry to open Mainspring, a Kittery social services hub

Ian Lenahan, Portsmouth Herald
·3 min read

KITTERY, Maine — A social services hub, with numerous agencies stationed under one roof, is coming to town in an operation led by two well-known local nonprofit organizations.

Fair Tide, the State Road agency that provides housing and social services to people experiencing homelessness, is teaming up with Footprints Food Pantry of Old Post Road to purchase the former Kittery Family Practice building at 22 Shapleigh Road.

Mainspring will be the name for the new “one-stop” location planned to house Fair Tide’s operations and its low-cost thrift store, in addition to Footprints and York County Community Action’s outreach and Women, Infants and Children programs.

Fair Tide Executive Director Emily Flinkstrom, left, and Footprints Food Pantry Executive Director Megan Shapiro-Ross are working to bring their organizations to one location at 22 Shapleigh Road in Kittery, Maine, where a social services hub called Mainspring is planned, as seen Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.
Fair Tide Executive Director Emily Flinkstrom, left, and Footprints Food Pantry Executive Director Megan Shapiro-Ross are working to bring their organizations to one location at 22 Shapleigh Road in Kittery, Maine, where a social services hub called Mainspring is planned, as seen Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.

The organizations anticipate being joined by municipal general assistance, local mental and behavioral health support and legal aid programs, as well as medical and dental health clinics, rounding out a roster of social support for citizens in need, all based in one building.

“I’m excited to move things forward. After so many years of talking about and dreaming about it, the fact that it's now going to be reality is amazing,” Fair Tide Executive Director Emily Flinkstrom said. “We still have a long ways to go, but the excitement and motivation is there and the need for it is there.”

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In an announcement from Fair Tide and Footprints, its leaders described Mainspring: “This strategic, collaborative model will provide individuals and families with easy access to all-encompassing services, offering a pathway out of poverty and, ultimately, strengthening the entire community.”

Using a $750,000 federal grant via York County’s designated American Rescue Plan Act funding, Fair Tide and Footprints now co-own the building after jointly purchasing the former family practice in late April. The two organizations are not merging.

“Not only will we be better able to serve our community members, but we will also be able to create a greater impact on our mission to eradicate food insecurity in homes throughout our community,” said Megan Shapiro-Ross, Footprints Food Pantry’s executive director.

Former Kittery Family Practice building will be expanded

Megan Shapiro-Ross, executive director of Footprints Food Pantry, left, and Emily Flinkstrom, executive director of Fair Tide, talk Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 about the space for Mainspring, a new social services hub coming to Kittery, Maine.
Megan Shapiro-Ross, executive director of Footprints Food Pantry, left, and Emily Flinkstrom, executive director of Fair Tide, talk Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 about the space for Mainspring, a new social services hub coming to Kittery, Maine.

Fair Tide and Footprints plan to renovate and expand the building on its east and west sides, Flinkstrom said, to accommodate the additional services planned.

A total fundraising goal has not yet been established, but a public capital campaign to pay for construction is currently in the works. Fair Tide and Footprints hope to open the doors to Mainspring in August 2024, according to the nonprofits' leaders.

Assisting Fair Tide and Footprints in the building expansion design process is ARQ Architects in Kittery.

“We’ll be able to get some more detailed numbers in terms of what construction is going to cost in the next several months,” Flinkstrom said.

The 7,258-square-foot Shapleigh Road building, built in 1986, was last assessed by the town at $721,800, town property records show.

“The challenges people face are often complex, and the Mainspring hub will allow people to access the resources and support they need under one roof,” York County Community Action Executive Director Carter Friend said. “We are very excited to be part of this important collaboration.”

Kittery Town Manager Kendra Amaral credited Fair Tide and Footprints for “leading the way forward” to ensure that all community members are served with “compassion and dignity” in a prepared statement.

Dubbing it a “resource hub,” Amaral said Mainspring “will be a beacon of hope, supporting community members in need with access to the programs, services, and resources vital to their health and wellbeing.”

The website for Mainspring states that the former Kittery Family Practice building was purchased by Fair Tide and Footprints because it is a highly visible location and easily accessible to town residents, as well those living in Eliot and surrounding municipalities. The nearly two-acre property is located near a pharmacy, as well as one of the main entrances to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and is in a traditionally more affordable area of Kittery.

Information: mainspringcollective.org/

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: KIttery ME: Fair Tide, Footprints, more coming to social services hub