Bi-Weekly Blog, August 21, 2026

Bi-Weekly Blog, August 21, 2026

Greetings!

So many different things have been happening with Welcome To Housing lately.

We have another Board of Trustees meeting on the last Tuesday of August. Dennis Wint, our mentor with SCORE, has been very supportive of us focusing on goals. The BIGGIE when it comes to goals is bringing on MORE volunteers and honestly, I am NOT very good at setting goals but rather I like to keep plugging away to get things done and that HAS been working lately.

I mentioned in the most recent blog that WTH will be taking part in the Volunteer Fair that is being hosted by the Heart of Maine United Way at the venue they call “The Hub.”

They have a really nice location. It’s in a wooded setting of an office park off of Mount Hope Avenue in Bangor. It’s on the other side of Hogan Road from Channel 2.

On Monday at 11:00, Lisa Maxcy and I headed over to the New England School of Communications (NESCOM) and we were happy to see Craig Saunders made it as he wasn’t feeling well the night before. The three of us met with Nancy Roberts and Theresa Ayotte from Husson University.

We are one of several nonprofits who have applied to work with the student run program called One Circle Agency. There is a $300 fee, but the Trustees and I all feel it’s fair, especially for the students as without it, a nonprofit could pull out of the project part way through, something we would never do.

I have ALWAYS had very good luck with Husson, NESCOM and their students. Near our beginnings, we had an interview with a NESCOM student who is still supportive of what we do, Nikky Raney. She interviewed me along with Shannon Denbow who used to work for the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter.

The meeting went really well and there truly is strength in numbers having Craig, representing a supportive business (Machias Savings Bank) and Lisa who has life experience and works in the field that supports people that we work with (Community Health and Counseling Services which has been around since 1883).

Tomorrow (Thursday) at 5:00, we’re attending the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce Business (BRCC) After Hours, “Passport” event at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. It looks like it will include Jan Doucette, Lisa and Glenn Maxcy, Craig Saunders and even Melanie Pomeroy, the new volunteer who is a Registered Nurse working for Gentiva’s Hospice program.

The Passport event with the BRCC has people visiting displays throughout the upper floor of the venue, including the Center’s skyboxes. People visit them and get them stamped and then enter they’re stamped or initialed and then they’re put into a drawing for prizes. Normally at a Business After Hours, people are entered that register ahead of time and then also when they put in a business card when they arrive at the event AND the winners need to be present to win.

The Volunteer Fair at the United Way’s “Hub” will be a lot of fun. Even Craig Saunders plans to be there. The event will be a great chance to talk to people face-to-face, which I have always found was the best way to get people interested in volunteering.

There’s nothing wrong with emailing people and/or things like press releases, but nothing can compare to in-person opportunities with people.

Having a fall a day or so before the Chamber event, I didn’t attend but rather sat in on the Penobscot County Cares Meeting.

So, after emailing a press release out to all the local media, I heard from the 5 volunteers who attended the After Hours and THEN I heard our meeting with NESCOM and One Circle Agency resulted in WTH being chosen. I looked and looked for the email they said she sent to no avail but it DID show up on Friday…

Hi Chris, 

We are pleased to let you know that Welcome to Housing has been chosen as a client for One Circle Agency this fall semester. Theresa and I were very impressed with all that you do, especially with an all-volunteer workforce! We would like to have you come in to meet the students on XXXXXXXXXXX. Does that work for you? The class meets from XXXXXX so if there is a better time or you would rather look at the next Tuesday, Sept. 15, that could work too. You can expect it to take 30 minutes. Below are some questions for you to answer for the first 20 minutes and then the students will have questions for you. 

We look forward to seeing you then, 

Nancy

Initial Client Meeting 

Overview of your organization

Overview of the project-what do you want the students to do? what does success look like?

What are your short- and long-term marketing goals? 

How would you describe your brand personality and positioning?

Target audience-primary and secondary customers

Key differentiators-what makes your brand/product unique?

Comparables- could be local, regional, or national

Inspiration-what brands, imagery, or campaigns do you admire or inspire you?

Nancy Roberts, APR, MBA
She/Her/Hers
Marketing Communications Program
New England School of Communications™
Husson University

Using my AI recorder, a Plaud Note Pro, I rattled off the questions and our answers in a draft and the device, and its programming and the first section came out with this for the first section.

00:00:00 Speaker 1

These are the questions and answers that they want ahead of time for the One Circle Agency. The initial client meeting, overview of your organization. Welcome to Housing is a one hundred percent volunteer driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit furniture bank. We have no geographic restrictions. We serve anyone in the state of Maine in need. People come from a myriad of circumstances. They might be escaping a disaster like a house fire. They might be displaced by domestic violence. They might be immigrants. They might be people coming from a shelter. They might be coming back into the community from the correctional system. Basically, it's the same concept as a food pantry except instead we give out furniture.

Well, it’s that time again, to call it a good “couple of weeks.”

In closing I will be talking to a lady who works for a VERY large employer. She contacted me on Facebook Messenger after I shared a post about WTH on the Bangor Tree Streets Neighborhood page. We live in the “Tree Streets Neighborhood” in Bangor and on Fridays, we can post information about their business or organization,

I was inspired to write the following after someone from one of the local hospitals had a bunch of questions as they really didn’t understand that EVERYTHING we get we GIVE AWAY…

Here are 10 answers to our frequently asked questions.

First, we are completely volunteer driven, no one gets paid.

Second, everything we have we give away for free to people in need, we do not require vouchers or payment of any kind.

Third, the great big building that we use for our warehouse in Old Town is actually owned free and clear we do not pay rent we do not pay lease thanks to the generous donation of a grant by the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.

Fourth, The 24 solar panels on our roof are completely paid for thanks to a grant from the American Rescue Plan Act and that grant money came through the Penobscot County Commission.

Fifth, our warehouse is heated using a three unit heat pump system that is the reason why we pursued a solar array and the solar array covers approximately 80% of our electricity costs.

Sixth, we help people through more than 80 different agencies and organizations, and we have no geographic restrictions as we serve anyone in need in the State of Maine.

Seventh, we are always in need of volunteers both at the warehouse and on our Board of Trustees and the

many teams and Committees of the Board of Trustees whether it's fundraising, community outreach, marketing, etcetera.

Eighth, Our expenses include insurance for the building as well as liability. We also pay for utilities like water, sewer and electricity. Other expenses include mailbox rental, as well as truck rental and fuel.

Ninth, the reason that we rent trucks is simply because the cost of owning our own truck, with the depreciation, the insurance, the storage and so forth would be too expensive for our small budget. We have the support of a lot of businesses including a couple of moving companies and a truck rental company as well.

Tenth: Despite everyone volunteering and everything that we have give out for free, we do have expenses as I mentioned, that's the fact that we still manage to do all of this on a budget of less than $30,000 a year. In 2024 we helped 1,807 people, from 903 households, who were referred to us from more than 80 different agencies and organizations as well as people coming to us directly. Also, that same year of 2024 we diverted an estimated 46.8 tons of furniture and other items from going into the waste stream prematurely.

So many positive things as I said and seeing FIVE volunteers at a major Chamber of Commerce event is incredible.

Almost forgot, here’s the text from the press release I just sent out the other day and ended up with an interview with Cali Warren from ABC-7 and Fox 22 Bangor.

August 20, 2026
For Immediate Release
Contact: Christopher Olsen (207) 745-1287
welcometohousing@gmail.com

All Volunteer Furniture Bank Wins SCORE Award and Announces New Signature Event

Senior Corps Of Retired Executives (SCORE) recognized Welcome To Housing Home Goods Bank, Inc. (WTH) this year as the “Successful Non-Profit of the Year” in the State of Maine. The Northern Maine Chapter of SCORE was also recognized as the NATIONAL “Chapter of the Year.” Chris Olsen the Founder and Board of Trustees President says that’s an amazing recognition as the Northern Maine Chapter only has 14 Mentors, one of them being Dennis Wint who is the Mentor for WTH.

Welcome To Housing, (a 100-percent volunteer driven nonprofit) is celebrating their 15th Anniversary on
October 9th. Also on October 9th, the Heart of Maine United Way is hosting a Volunteer Fair at their venue called “The Hub” 700 Mount Hope Avenue, Suite 101 in Bangor. The United Way is inviting potential
volunteers from businesses and organizations as well as individuals to learn about opportunities in the area.
Olsen says their Board of Trustees are very interested as they’re working to increase their numbers for the Board as well as Teams/Committees for Marketing, Community Outreach, Fundraising, Governance along with adding more volunteers to help oversee their warehouse in Old Town.

Lastly, Welcome To Housing has announced what they plan to become their “Signature/Annual” event on
Saturday-Sunday, October 17th-18th. The event is called the “Count Our Blessings Camp-In.” The overnight event is being held in the Turf Room at the Old Town-Orono YMCA. The Family-Friendly event will include games, prizes, music, fun contests, a silent auction, a Stone Soup Story and Activity along with all kinds of food, including a “challenge” from the YMCA’s Chef Josh Heikkinen. Chair of the event Lisa Maxcy and
Olsen say the event will be a time to have fun as well as “Reflect.” Like a “Moment of Silence” the event will ask Happy Campers to take one night and realize people Welcome To Housing helps generally start out
without many things most people take for granted, including a bed, hence the event title,
“Count Our Blessings Camp-In.”

Live drop-ins will be on social media from Tik Tok to Facebook with Olsen who became a podcaster helping promote nonprofits and people making a positive change. The podcast can be found on YouTube and Spotify, called People, Places and Parables.

With that being said, I hope all of you (I still don’t know if anyone reads these blogs) have a great couple of weeks.

Sincerely yours,

Christopher Olsen
Founder and Board of Trustees President
welcometohousing@gmail.com
call/test (207) 745-1287