Mainspring: We believe taking care of our neighbors is essential. Will you join us?

We’re fortunate to have a number of public agencies and nonprofit organizations in the Seacoast region fighting food insecurity, homelessness, and the larger housing crisis. The struggles and needs of individuals, families, and children living below the poverty line — and often above it — are significant, well-documented, and chronic. We’re equally fortunate to have thousands of caring community members generously supporting these programs — with their time, money, and talents. We know the needs are great and requests are numerous, but we’re hopeful you’ll consider, if you haven’t already, making a donation to the new Mainspring social services collective being launched here on the Seacoast. We’re currently accepting and appreciative of both 2023 year-end gifts and 2024 pledges to our ongoing capital campaign.

You may have read a few of our commentaries over the past several weeks. The leaders of Fair Tide and Footprints are coming together to systematically change how we care for this region — with a focus on both short-term responses and long-term solutions to hunger, homelessness, and an array of poverty-related issues. Individuals and families will be supported through tailored case management, at a one-stop resource hub, as they build capacity in their own lives and navigate a path out of poverty. Located in Kittery, Mainspring will serve as a resource for the entire Seacoast region, on both sides of the Piscataqua, and as a critical partner for social service providers throughout the region. The goal is to have our doors open before the end of 2024.

We’re still building out the services to be offered at Mainspring, but confirmed and prospective partners and programs currently include: Fair Tide (affordable housing programs, case-management services, thrift store), Footprints Food Pantry (free grocery store, prepared meals program, nutrition/cooking classes, culinary job training, home delivery, off-site older resident pantry, school pantries, weekly supper), York County Community Action (Outreach worker and Women Infants & Children/WIC programs), Maine Health’s Care Partners and MedAccess Prescription Assistance programs, mental and behavioral health care, medical services and assistance navigating the healthcare system, substance misuse recovery support, municipal General Assistance programs (for emergency needs), adult education classes, Seacoast Outright’s LGBTQ+ programming, veteran services, utility support programs (funds for essential heating), Table of Plenty, legal aid, tax preparation assistance, financial literacy classes, computer and printer use, shower facilities, and a daytime warming and cooling center (as needed). Fair Tide is also developing six affordable housing units next door to Mainspring (funded by MaineHousing, separate from Mainspring’s capital campaign).

Community members seeking services will no longer struggle with a fragmented and disjointed system. The entry process at Mainspring will be streamlined, respectful, and welcoming — with relationship-building starting right at the reception. A centralized intake and assessment process, a shared data system, and coordinated care will help us better meet needs, better understand gaps in services, and better evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

Mainspring’s professional staff will each bring their own fields of expertise and their agency’s resources to the case management process — working in partnership with every client. The holistic approach will be more effective and more efficient. This innovative model is already proving successful in other places — and we’re tailoring it to our community for maximum impact.

Wherever you live in the Seacoast region, whether in New Hampshire or Maine, please consider supporting the launch of Mainspring. In a world full of problems — many of them national, global, pressing — we believe taking care of our neighbors is central. It’s the essence of community, and foundational to everything else.

Over the past several months, we’ve received hundreds of generous contributions — currently totaling $3.8 million. Our goal is $5.45 million-plus. We’ve come a long way — and we’ve a long way to go. Among our major donors to date are the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation's Thomas W. Haas Fund, Paul & Jessica McKeon, the Jonathan King & James Stott Charitable Fund of Goldman Sachs Philanthropy, Faith Harrington & Peter Lamb through the Ralph E. Ogden Foundation, the Mary Safford Wildes Fund, Amanda and Jay McSharry and J Group Kittery, Gary Blake, Jean and David Lincoln, the Sam L. Cohen Foundation, George and Julie Dow, Priscilla and Jamey French, Nicole and Stephen Ritchie, and the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. We’ve also received several significant anonymous contributions.

Major grants have also come from the York County Commissioners (American Rescue Plan Act Funds), Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, Hannaford Charitable Foundation, Kennebunk Savings Bank, the Town of Kittery, Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention, the Town of Eliot, and Northeast Credit Union.

Maine U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R) and Angus King (I) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D) are all supporting a 2024 federal grant currently in the budget process.

The Mainspring capital campaign team includes Ali Goodwin, Lorianne Saniuk, Tracy Johnson, Peter Lamb, Barb MacLeod, Cynthia Maranhas, Tim Allison, Faith Harrington, Michele Meyer, Nicole McShane, Ryan Pope, Sooky Lassen, Andy Littlefield, Mary Ellen Jackson, Kathy Gunst, Chrissie Penney, and Lisa Hovde. And many others are working just as hard to get us to our goal.

If you’d like to learn more about Mainspring, connect with us, or make a contribution, please visit mainspringcollective.org. Anything you’d like to do or give to help us out would be immensely appreciated. Your support is needed. Thank you.

Emily Flinkstrom, a Kittery resident, is the executive director of Fair Tide. Megan Shapiro-Ross, an Eliot resident, is the executive director of Footprints. They are the co-founders of Mainspring. John Shea, a Kittery resident, is serving as the chair of the Mainspring capital campaign. This is the fifth in a series of five commentaries.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Mainspring: Taking care of neighbors is essential. Will you join us?