It may seem an unlikely pairing at first glance, but once Waterville Mayor Jay Coelho and the Rev. Maureen Ausbrook start talking about their joint mission, it all starts to make sense.
Coelho, owner of Grub Bakery at 144 College Ave., plans to close that business Monday and turn it into a temporary soup kitchen. Five days a week, he and Ausbrook will pack up the food cooked there and take it to homeless people in Waterville.
“I want to be on the front lines,” said Coelho, 44. “I want to be where they are. I want to be under the bridge, I want to be behind Flagship Cinema, in the woods. There’s a portion of homeless people that want to be homeless so my goal is to find that 20 to 30 percent who don’t want to be homeless. If we can get to those people, clean them up, get them a shower, a warm place to stay and a job, we can change their lives.”
Waterville Mayor Jay Coelho, left, and Maureen Ausbrook, shown Wednesday, plan on running a soup kitchen for the homeless. The food will be prepared at Grub, Coelho’s bakery in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
At 70, Ausbrook has been helping the homeless and those on the brink of homelessness for years. She runs Starfish Village, a ministry of the Waterville Congregational United Church of Christ, which helps families become stable.
“Right now, I’m dealing with nine adults, seven children and some pets,” she said.
Ausbrook and the Rev. Nancy Findlan, both ordained interfaith ministers, take emergency calls at Starfish, and help families find shelter and connect with resources and agencies. They work to solve the issues that lead a family toward homelessness. Sometimes it’s as simple as replacing tires on a car; other times it’s more complex, such as assisting a family that’s not receiving its Social Security benefits.
Ausbrook and Coelho are trying to find a permanent home for the Waterville Area Soup Kitchen, started by Aline Poulin last year after the Sacred Heart Soup Kitchen on Pleasant Street closed after 40 years. The soup kitchen has been cooking meals at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and taking them to city parks twice a week.
Waterville Mayor Jay Coelho, right, and Maureen Ausbrook plan on running a soup kitchen for the homeless. The food will be prepared in the kitchen of Coelho’s Grub bakery. The pair met at the bakery Wednesday. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
The kitchen recently merged with Starfish and the name has changed to the Starfish Soup Kitchen, which Ausbrook now oversees. She also hopes to lease the Sacred Heart Church basement and return the soup kitchen there, and transform the church office into two apartments for families. She is working with BACAS, a company seeking to buy the Sacred Heart property. BACAS recently dropped plans to turn the place into an events center.
Ausbrook, referred to by many as Rev. Mo, is a relentless advocate for the underdog, as anyone who has seen and heard her speak at public meetings knows. A 10-year breast cancer survivor, she is vocal and persistent.
Coelho, who was diagnosed recently with a serious heart issue, is also outspoken and digs in when he sees a need. He and his family, including four children, have hosted several fundraisers at Grub for all sorts of causes including Waterville youth sports. During the pandemic, he cooked food for emergency workers and those in need, purchasing all the food himself.
“Who else is going to buy it?” he said.
He plans to continue fundraising at the Grub site, where he also plans to move his businesses, You Broke It? and Cell Medic, from Main Street downtown. That site, he said, will become an automated convenience store, dispensing meals.
Meanwhile, he and Ausbrook are taking donations of blankets and tents at Grub. Ausbrook said people who wish to donate pre-paid Visa cards and funds to the Starfish effort may call her at 509-1494.
Waterville Mayor Jay Coelho, right, and Maureen Ausbrook plan on running a soup kitchen for the homeless. The food will be prepared at Coelho’s Grub bakery. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
The homeless situation is complex and it’s imperative that area communities address it together, the pair said.
Asked what drives them, Ausbrook said it’s an honor to dedicate herself to doing things in retirement that she wasn’t able to do while working full time and raising a family. For Coelho, it’s simply a commitment to feeding and taking care of people.
“At some point in your life, profit means a lot less than purpose,” he said, “and I’m going to do everything I can, while I’m here, to make an impact.”
Amy Calder has been a Morning Sentinel reporter for 33 years. Her columns appear here Saturdays. She may be reached at acalder@centralmaine.com. For previous Reporting Aside columns, go to centralmaine.com.
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