Welcome To Housing Bi-Weekly Blog Friday July 11, 2025

I normally start writing this before the Friday dates shown, so perhaps I should just call these “Founder Friday’s Features.”

As always there is a LOT going on with Welcome To Housing Home Goods Bank, Inc. (a.k.a. WTH) but I wanted to share a little bit of helpful advice, especially for recipients of our services, meaning the people that need furniture, household essentials, adaptive equipment, home décor, holiday decorations or any combination thereof.

When you’re calling in to the Google Voice number (207) 200-5524, you can leave a voicemail or even send a text message to that number. But 99-percent of the time it makes my personal cell phone ring (which is how I want it) and I poke the “1” button and it sends the call through. All that works fine, but here’s the thing.

When you’re calling ANYWHERE, seeking answers, help, an appointment etcetera, it helps to have a pen or pencil and something to write on, especially when you’re calling us.

Here’s why: I am the founder of the program, and I screen all the calls as we’re a 100-percent volunteer driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit registered with the State of Maine. What that means is, because of my mobility issues and the fact I work as a real estate agent, I redirect people calling in to the volunteer who can best help them. One of those volunteers is in charge of scheduling appointments, whether they’re called in by a case worker on behalf of a client they represent or directly from the client themselves. That great volunteer is Debbie, and her number is (207) 944-4606. If you’re looking to see if we have something specific, I will refer you to either SammiJo, Lisa or Janet. In other words, see if what’s being sought is indeed available.

But the point I want to make is trying a little trick I do that I have always found helpful. When you’re calling out to get information, etcetera, have a pen or pencil and something to write on. It doesn't need to be a big honkin’ bright yellow legal pad, it can be a piece of scrap paper, a used envelope, heck even an Etch-A-Sketch. Some people like to write it on their smartphone but if you are ON that miniature computer that just happens to have a cellular phone app, it can be a challenge to text something onto your phone WHILE you’re on a voice call.

Also, if you’re calling in to request services or calling in as you have furniture or other items to donate and you call on a “restricted” line and we don’t pick up in time, PLEASE leave a voicemail or send a text. I was at the eye doctor’s today and my phone rang but I wasn’t able to pick up as I was in the middle of my appointment. Later I looked on my incoming call list and all it said was “Restricted.” I checked my cellphone’s voicemail and there was no message. I checked the welcometohousing@gmail.com account to see if there was a transcribed message and of course there wasn’t. It also meant that there was no option for me to either call or text back to see how we could help.

I can tell you, as well as our volunteers and recipients can, that I generally get back to people promptly and, in all honesty, I DON’T mind calls or text messages after business hours, on holidays, weekends etcetera. The reason I am “Open For Business” like that is I took on this program to HELP as many people as possible (Close to 1,500 individuals and more than 800 families annually) and there’s ANOTHER reason.

Number one, I know for many people it’s HARD to ask for help, but I don’t want people to let their pride get in the way. Secondly, I know how diverse and sometimes stressful the situations can be for people we help. A Friday afternoon, a Mom needed a car seat and DHHS was out of them and Penquis had just closed for the weekend. I relayed this story before, but I met the lady at Walmart, and we purchased one that was perfect for her and her little one’s needs.

Sometimes people take in relative’s or friend’s children on a long term or permanent basis and that’s called kinship care. And remember, these kinship parents may be on a fixed income and/or maybe taking in the child or children on super short notice. One of the stipulations in that situation, much like sober living homes, there needs to be an actual BED and boxspring and/or bed frame. This means they can’t just let the child sleep on the couch or a pile of blankets or even a sleeping bag. They actually need a real BED.  

I also am happy to report that we came through this week for a gentleman who recently had a tumor removed from his brain, and thankfully it was the kind that didn’t metastasize (spread) to other parts of his body.

A family member of his messaged me that the doctor said he should get a recliner that elevated his feet above his heart. I was familiar with this as I had heart surgery back in 2020. I told her though about something called a Zero Gravity Chair that does that and is much less expensive. She was thrilled to learn that and when I said, WTH can ORDER you one and GIVE it to him she was even more excited. The one we found actually had some nice, removeable cushions and it didn’t take very long to be delivered.

The reason I knew about these types of chairs is after my heart surgery, I have used one and found it to be incredibly comfortable as well as very healthy for my feet, legs and yes, even my heart.

This personal need to help others is something I learned by watching my parents and friends and building a large network of volunteers and contacts over the years, and the best analogy is one I came up with a couple of years ago. My first paid gig as a nonprofit manager was back on July 1, 1988. I LOVED being on the radio when it came to being an on-air announcer and doing commercial production, but we moved to this area in 1986, and I took a job as a radio news reporter/anchor. I had been one in Augusta, but I left the news department to do the evening shift and also do commercial production.

It wasn’t long though after I took the news job at the 100,000-watt station that I realized gathering and reporting stories wasn’t my thing. If they were positive and meaningful stories like human interest or public service pieces, I would have LOVED it… the type of stories that lift people up, educate people, inspire listeners to get involved in something GOOD.  It wasn’t though. It was a lot of covering accidents, fires, local politics. In other words, a steady, condensed stream of all the “bad” things that were going on in our State.

There is a disgusting phrase that used to come up in news that was spoken about inside of newsrooms but not on the air. “If it (the story) BLEEDS it LEADS” meaning if it’s gory, it comes first. Dispensing information is one thing but sometimes lines are crossed to the point of being ghoulish. When I worked at the station in Augusta in news before taking the on-air shift, I had to read a certain story aloud on the 50,000-watt station… SEVERAL times.

It was about a mother, her child and the mother’s boyfriend. I remember their names and the picture in my mind of what happened can still turn my stomach if I think about it for any length of  time. The boyfriend convinced the child’s mother that her young daughter was “evil,” and they stuffed the young girl in the oven and murdered her.

Needless to say, I UNDERSTAND the World is filled with horrific events and some people do some things that go beyond what anyone could imagine, even in a nightmare.

That being said though, the analogy I started to talk about earlier is connecting people to each other and to needed resources is simply this:

When you were younger, did you ever play the card game “Concentration?” You would lay out all 52 playing cards (and the two Jokers if you so desired) face down on a tabletop or other flat surface and take turns, flipping over two cards each time, looking for a matched pair. If you found a matched pair; you kept those cards off to the side and went again and changed turns when you failed to find a pair of matching cards.

Not only do we have many “small world” stories and things coming together against the odds, but an intern we had from UMaine a few years ago visited numerous furniture bank websites and learned coincidences, divine intervention, synchronicity…whatever you want to call them, happen at most furniture banks. If you’d be interested in seeing what similar organizations do, you can find many of them by visiting the Furniture Bank Network’s website: www.furniturebanks.org.

 If you read my last installment, I mentioned my visit to a halfway house. Here’s the intro from my last blog:

(I’m not an alcoholic but when I was in school in Boston, a classmate of mine was concerned about my drinking when I was going to Broadcasting School. He invited me to spend the weekend checking out A.A. meetings and staying overnight at a halfway house. To this day, it was one of the BEST experiences of my life. My friend years before (who was now sober) had actually POISONED his spinal fluid with alcohol. I will tell you about that great weekend in an upcoming blog).

The reason the invitation from “David” was extended to me was because what he saw me do one day at the broadcasting school on Marlborough Street in Boston. We were on one of the upper floors of the brownstone. One of the other students realized she left something out in her car that she needed for class. Being raised to help others, I told her if she gave me her car keys, I would retrieve whatever it was. I think it was something like a book bag. David watched me take her keys, go bounding down the stairs, as we were on the 2nd or 3rd floor. I ran across the street to her car, unlocked it and grabbed whatever it was, locked the car back up and ran back across the street and back into the brownstone and handed her the keys and whatever it was I retrieved… This was back in 1982 or 1983 as the program was only one full school year.

David looked at me and quietly asked me something like, “What are you on?”

I had a bit of whiskey that morning before heading out for my walk from my basement apartment on Comm-Ave (Commonwealth Avenue) to the school several blocks away.

I knew David’s background and he was a great classmate. He reminded me of one of the character actors from Clint Eastwood’s Western, Pale Rider.

I knew he was concerned about me. It was my first time truly on my own away from home and it was sometimes overwhelming. I had been away to Hebron Academy for one school year and ended up going to Hyde School in Bath for what was summer school for a few weeks and then a regular year and as I mentioned in a prior blog, I ran away from their twice.

The conversation continued and David invited me to stay over the weekend at a halfway house just outside of Boston and attend some open A.A. meetings with him.

I knew he was serious, and he actually was worried about me. Knowing that and the fact that my girlfriend (who was my future spouse) and her family were happy and after attending two consecutive summer family reunions with her, I knew two things. One was they were all friendly and loving and I NEVER felt like an outsider. The second thing? Alcohol was NOT a thing for most of them. By that I mean, they weren’t standing around drinking or talking about their glory days of doing reckless things while drunk.

After bonding with my older half-brother Greg in the last few months of his life (he passed away February of 2024) I watched in agony as his life (and his liver) went swirling down the crapper because of his addiction to alcohol. I think it was the first time I ever saw anyone’s skin turn yellow from jaundice.

So, I said “Yes” to David. It was something I wanted to do, to understand and having an opportunity to learn with the help of my classmate, I went for it. Besides, I firmly believe in the quote from a James Dean movie, where he was talking to a character played by Sal Mineo. I can’t seem to find it to confirm it, but as I remember it, it was something like this: “If you say NO to experiencing life, Life will say NO, right back.”

The halfway house looked pretty much like any other family home I’ve ever been in (as a real estate agent for 20+ years, I’ve seen many homes) but there was something really fascinating about it. Everyone there was open and friendly and shared a common interest… a focus to stay sober and to help their roommates to do the same.

Years later when I worked at Hope House as a resource developer, I learned about a great national awareness campaign called “Treatment WORKS!” The thing I remember was the simple message: “Trying drugs or alcohol IS a choice… Addiction is NOT.”

In the introductions and conversations with the residents, there was no tension or facades, or let’s face it, what I would call “Macho posturing.” These guys were friendly, decent people and they understood why David arranged for me to stay there for the weekend and attend several “open” A.A. meetings. They KNEW David was worried about me and knew that they could, from their experience, help make me more aware of my choices in life. When it came right down to it, how drinking alcohol wasn’t going to make life any easier, it would only complicate EVERYTHING in my life.

The meetings were incredibly “eye opening” to me. They were truly open and honest and at times pretty “raw.” I have always felt uncomfortable when people, especially men would brag about the things they did when they were drunk or as they boasted about it as being, hammered, smashed, drunk off their ass…and LAUGHED about it.

I learned from those meetings, if you’re visiting a meeting like I was and it came your time to introduce yourself, after sharing your first name, you can simply say, “I’m here to learn.”

One of the many epiphanies from that experience was personal, but one that really amazed me came after David and I left a large open meeting.

Before I share that, I have a tremendous amount of respect for bikers. I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to ride. The guy that used to watch out for me when I first moved to Maine, Alan rode the school bus from the high school down to the junior high. He would be at the back of the bus and keep an eye on me. My parents had heard from Alan’s folks that their son would be on the lookout for me. He was a drummer and apparently heard I was a drummer as well. Needless to say, he helped me survive emotionally after dealing with over a dozen bullies.

Alan, in addition to being a biker and having been affiliated with United Bikers of Maine, you may have seen him in pictures or in person at the Maine Lobster Festival, as he is their Blackbeard the Pirate and has been for a number of years.

SO, you understand, I think bikers are fascinating.

So, after the open meeting in the ‘burbs of Boston, David and I were standing outside of the building that hosted many A.A. meetings and there was a growing rumbling in the distance.

Suddenly there was a HUGE group of bikers coming towards us. Like a David Mann painting in Easyrider Magazine coming to life. Harleys, lots of chrome, sunglasses, black leather and name patches with logos.

With a big grin, I turned to David and quietly said, “Well there goes the neighborhood” in jest. David looked at me and said “They’re all SOBER. They have their own meetings.”

I was absolutely blown away and it really hit me how POWERFUL A.A. was and how it not only helped with people’s journey to achieve sobriety, but it also helped with spirituality.

I remember sitting in at an A.A. meeting when I worked at Hope House. One of the people attending the meeting talked about how he didn’t feel comfortable with the “religious” component of A.A. and the person facilitating the meeting made a good point of clarification. He said that it’s not so much religion but more spirituality.

With that, I want to say thank you and God Rest Your Soul to the great man who was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, William Griffith Wilson. Even though I am not an alcoholic, I am glad to be acquainted with Bill W. as people call him, and call themselves “Friends of Bill W.”

It’s an amazing organization and every day I think of my late, older half brother Greg, and wish that I understood (as well as his 5 adult kids and his two former wives did) how bad his addiction was.

I guess my point of this focus, is that substance use disorder affects so many people, not just the people that use, but everyone else in their lives. And know that our program is there for people as they are starting over from a myriad of circumstances, including those who are in recovery.

Have a peaceful couple of weeks and I will be back here again with more ramblings.

Gratefully,

Christopher “Call me ANYTHING but home late for supper” Olsen
Founder and Board President