Quality of Life Found in Third Spaces
Submitted by Holly Zadra, Council Moderator
There’s a common mantra repeated in Maine’s rural places about the need for jobs and young people. But there’s a subtler, yet equally important need in these struggling towns: quality of life and the creative, cultural economy that arises when public aesthetics meet private need. “Relatively young people (aged 18 to 50) are not only highly educated but also mobile and attracted to environments that have few problems, tolerate “bohemians,” and provide opportunities for leisure and amenities consistent with a high quality of life.” Third places — those that foster community and communication among people outside of home and work — offer a kind of psychological balm that attracts and keeps young people and entrepreneurs in a given location. Effectively, third places weave a community together through supporting the kind of life we work for while also coalescing people outside the confines of their own living spaces.
In June 2018, community partners invested in the future of rural Maine crossed a boundary traditionally associated with worship and denomination. They entered the space of an old, historic church building at the center of a rural village in Central Maine for a two-day community listening project, the “Dream Labs.” The aim was to identify community needs and explore how the spaces of the beautiful building could be used to meet those needs.
Beneath high ceilings, surrounded by 19th century woodwork and stained glass, people from diverse backgrounds and places came together to dream the possibilities for sustaining the building as a third space, that is, a community living room; a home away from home, work, or school; a place where like-hearted people can come together with different minds. Participants honed in on the needs within their rural communities and the region and began the process of uniting people in a project aimed at supporting the spirit of community and revitalizing the building that holds the space for community groups.
The Pittsfield Unitarian Universalist Meeting House (UUMH) serves as a church building on Sundays for three hours and hosts (and rents space for) intermittent celebrations, weddings, and funerals within its domed, mural-adorned sanctuary. Local, community suppers are held in its large, working kitchen and dining hall; public workshops, musical and theatre performances, and dances occur within the auditorium and stage space. Meeting House space is available for civic groups, school programs, and clubs large and small. A community choir meets there as does a ukulele group. Two mornings each week, adjudicated supervised child-parent visits occur. And each and every Friday, the Welcome Table serves a home-cooked, free lunch open to all. It is a place where civic dialogue as well as arts and cultural events happen — something of a lifeline for this small, rural community.
Over the course of the two-day project, participants in the Dream Labs focused on increasing use of the space while also meeting unmet needs. People from various sectors brought their ideas and conundrums to the table to take the first steps toward a more formal, collaborative, co-created community space — an apolitical, non-faith-based offering to the community from Pittsfield’s UU faith group. Attendees included administration and staff of the local school system MSAD 53, representatives from the Pittsfield Public Library, local small business owners, retirees including a former teacher, a woodworker, counselor, an occupational therapist, and psychiatrist, other curious faith groups from rural churches, recent Maine Central Institute (MCI) high school graduates, an architect from nearby Waterville, LGBTQIA folks, the Meeting House Council, and an EpSCOR* (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (of the National Science Foundation)) Nordic Culture House researcher and community-building aficionado Holly Truitt of Missoula, MT, who facilitated.
Though Town Council reps did not attend, a Meeting House representative presented ideas and outcomes at two Pittsfield Town Council Meetings both to engage Town leadership and maintain transparency about what’s happening and how it can benefit everyone. Another hope? To engage the help of Pittsfield’s biggest employer and East Coast construction giant Cianbro in assisting with some of the bricks-and-mortar needs of the architectural beauty in critical need of perimeter foundation drainage and waterproofing.
*The National Science Foundation EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) is testing the Co-Creation model, that of collectives in rural states doing transformative, process-based, cross-sector work. Maine is one of the rural focus states.
What Emerged?
A few key themes emerged over the course of two days of Dream Labs (in the spirit of collaborative transparency, exact, unfiltered words of our participants are available upon request). Here’s what was on people’s minds and in their hearts:
- Hold space for a youth-dreamt, youth-led space that is inclusive, safe, and relaxing with robust internet, charging stations, youth-run activities and good food;
- Offer an anchor to the community for both celebration and unimaginable events for those in need of shelter and community support;
- Foster creative and cultural pursuits for all ages through various means including lending trunks; extending the endeavors and available space for Pittsfield Public Library and Maine Humanities programs;
- Use food and cooking to grow resilience among those experiencing food insecurity and/or social isolation;
- Nurture intergenerational connections that pair senior citizens with pre-school children and high school students with elementary students, etc.
- Integrate MCI boarding students into the fabric of Pittsfield community life.
A Model Worth Replicating
One successful model already at work inside the Meeting House is the Welcome Table.
The Welcome Table was originally conceived of by a group from UUMH as a place for people to come to get out of the cold. In late 2008, when oil was near $4 per gallon, simply staying warm through the winter was a daunting task for many. They decided that their heated, handicapped-accessible downstairs dining area with its large kitchen could help.
The enthusiastic response made UUMH organizers realize that if they were to offer a weekly free lunch, they wouldn’t be doing it alone. People in the community from many denominations, businesses, and civic organizations were willing and eager to work.
The Welcome Table opened its doors on January 9, 2009, and since then it has been open every Friday, including holidays like Christmas and New Years Day, closing only for inclement weather. In the 9 years of operation, approximately 18,000 meals have been served.
Although based at the Meeting House, the Welcome Table has always been bigger than that one church. The administrative team includes Meeting House members as well as several folks not affiliated. Different churches, local businesses, civic groups, as well as families, clubs, and student groups volunteer to prepare and clean up after each week’s lunch.
The Welcome Table is one replicable model of what is possible inside the Meeting House. It is an organization that lives in the building and provides service, but it is controlled from without by local businesses, civic groups, students, and churches. Currently, the Welcome Table is exploring how it can expand its services to include cooking and nutrition educational workshops with the local hospital.
Next Steps
One key principle evolving from the Dream Labs is the notion that young people, with a little guidance and training, can conceive of, lead, and create their own answers to the conundrums they, themselves, experience in Pittsfield and this rural Central Maine region. The Meeting House, therefore, doesn’t offer answers and solutions, rather, it are holds the space for those answers and solutions to emerge. To that end, several Dream Lab attendees expressed interest and committed to assisting in the creation of a youth caucus, a gathering of young people ages 14-25 who might undertake their own version of the June Dream Labs. This endeavor will occur in Winter 2018/2019, dates TBD.
Concurrently, the Meeting House building itself is in need of capital improvements to the historic building. To that end, the UUMH contracted Ames Associates, LLC of Bangor, ME, to draft an Historic Structures Assessment for the whole building. This comprehensive road map of care for the community building includes a prioritization schedule that lays out the order in which capital improvements should occur. As step two in the restoration and renovation process, UUMH has begun seeking grant aid specifically for Architectural/Engineering documents and water remediation.
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