Mark Cotton is a volunteer renovating the attached backhouse at The Table on Main Street in Norway. When The Table reopens in a few weeks, the back space will serve as a ‘store front’ for its weekly 3C Clothing Giveaway. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
NORWAY — The Table, located in the historic Little Yellow School House in Norway, is wrapping up interior renovations on its attached back house. Volunteers are adding more room to accommodate growing community demand for free services.
The doors will reopen and the 3C Clothing Giveaway will return on August. 7
Around as a concept for more than 12 years, and as a nonprofit support organization for the last six or seven, The Table has expanded and shifted its services whenever its leaders have seen a need to fill.
Its roots date back to the Deering Memorial Methodist Church of Paris. Director A-J Alexander, who was the presiding minister at Deering, had spent time in Boston doing outreach for unhoused populations.
Alexander began incorporating similar support programs at Deering. When the church closed in 2016, the services Alexander developed were transferred to Bolsters Mills United Methodist Church in Harrison. And there it began to grow.
One early program, 3C Clothing Giveaway, was held at the Norway Grange twice a year, with donations gathered from the Oxford Hills community.
“More than 300 people would come through the doors in four hours to pick up clothing,” Alexander said. “There would be lines out the door.
“When COVID hit we couldn’t have that many people in the building and we had to stop. But do you think the clothing stopped coming? People were cleaning their houses as they sheltered at home and we kept getting more and more.”
With so much apparel busting out of storage, The Table’s clothing giveaway got a reboot when social distancing mandates were lowered around May of 2021.
Demand was equal to supply, and the program evolved to be open weekly, at The Table.
“We still see 90-100 people come in,” said Ellen Burnham, who began volunteering about that time. Now she is the person who manages donations and distribution. “Every time we’re open.
“When we started here with the clothing giveaway, people were so appreciative. We supply new underwear and hygiene kits for anyone who needs them.”
“There is such a huge need,” added Karen Turino, administrator for The Table. “It’s free and available to anybody. There are no residential or income requirements. It’s open to anyone who walks through the door.”
The Norway Grange Hall is also the site of free Saturday breakfasts between 8-10 a.m. There are four teams of volunteers, representing different local groups, who are responsible for organizing one weekend each month.
“The intent of The Table was to make an impact on the community, especially around recovery, to feed and clothe people,” Alexander said. “We’re here to help people get back on their feet, whether they’ve had a fire, have experienced domestic violence, are in recovery, whatever.”
Burnham networks with other organizations around Oxford Hills to reach clients, including case managers at the hospital, the school district, Community Concepts and with public safety departments. In cases of house fires, the Red Cross uses the building to meet with victims to replace lost clothing and provide short term housing and other services.
The Table at 160 Main Street in Norway is undergoing a partial makeover. Doors will reopen and community services will resume on August. 7.
When The Table opened in Norway in 2019 it began recovery and support groups. Currently Narcotics Anonymous meets there on Tuesdays and Alcoholics Anonymous on Wednesdays. Recently a grief support facilitator began holding sessions there on Thursday afternoons.
Alexander said she welcomes anyone searching for a facility to help others to use The Table. It does not need to be organized support groups. If a family needs a location for supervised visits under the guidance of Maine Department of Human Services, accommodations will be provided.
“It’s available for that kind of use,” Alexander said. “It’s part of recovery. For families working toward reunification, this is a safe place.
“What we do is come with ideas to solve problems for the community,” Alexander said. “We will start a program, and when it starts rolling it will have a leader who handles it, and we go start on the next thing.”
Among programs currently happening is a Friday Movie Night, which takes place at The Table the second Friday of every month, coordinated by another volunteer, Kathy Pulkkinen, who wanted to establish a chance for families to go out and enjoy chemical-free socializing. Started earlier this year any given movie night will attract a dozen to 15 people. Refreshments and popcorn are served free.
Once the back house renovation is complete it will provide a permanent clothing giveaway shop. For the last two years racks and items have been pulled out of a small storeroom on open days and then packed back up when it closes. The shop space will lessen the workload for volunteers and make it possible to keep everything organized by size, age and sex.
Heat pumps have been installed as part of the upgrades, which will make it possible for the The Table to operate as either a warming or cooling center as seasons and weather dictate.
Alexander is mulling ways to tackle unhoused community members who are in addiction recovery as a future project, with her clergy partners around the area. She envisions a type of shared housing model at a location that provides support on site and accommodations perhaps on a second floor.
“It’s going to get worse,” Alexander said. “Housing is so expensive. Even if you work you can’t find a place you can afford.”
“People are living on the edge,” Turino said. “One situation can cause them to miss rent and they’re out in their car.
“For teenagers, a lot of their parents are in addiction, with mental illness. Some are kicked out for being homosexual or transgender. They need a place to go.”
Addressing community homelessness is on everyone’s mind, but still out in the future. In the meantime, The Table’s volunteers will continue their mission of providing a space and resources to improve the lives of those in need on a scale they can.
“What our volunteers all have is a connection in some way to recovery,” Turino said. “Either we’re in recovery, or have children who are active or in recovery. It’s what draws us here.”
“I don’t think you can find anybody that isn’t impacted in some way by recovery,” Burnham added.
As Alexander often says, there will always be room at The Table.
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