Program & Services
One in five persons living in Somerset County are living below poverty lines and cannot afford food, clothing, and other necessities.
Guided by the core principals upon which we were founded, Common Unity Place (CUP) responds to the needs of our community with compassion and respect for human dignity. We believe that community has three crucial ingredients: inclusivity, consensus, and commitment. These ideals guide our leadership in making decisions. They are also the ideals that inspire our volunteers, whether it is in how we sort and merchandise clothing at the closet, the meals we prepare in the cafe, or the partnerships we form with social workers, community educators, and mental health workers. Common Unity Place understands the importance of reminding every person of their sacred worth.
We provide many of our services through 3 components: The Community Clothes Closet, C.U.P. Cafe, and the Tuesday Evening Meals.
The Community Clothes Closet
The Community Clothes Closet occupies 5000 square feet within Centenary United Methodist Church and distributes over 200,000 articles of clothing each year, free of charge. We have a large selection of clothing for all ages, sizes, and seasons.
The closet is open Wednesdays from 9 am to 12 p.m. & 5pm-7pm. Our Team Leader is available to make special arrangements to open the Closet to address emergency needs.
Clothes Closet volunteers give generously of their time in sorting, folding, hanging, and merchandising shirts, pants, dresses, shoes, belts, coats, underwear, and many other necessities. Among our volunteers you will find National Honor Students from the local high school, college students, church members, retirees, social service professionals, and residents from the local neighborhood.
We typically serve 45-60 families per week. Clothes Closet clientele includes people facing food and housing insecurity, residents of area nursing homes, the Somerset County Jail, ESM, the local schools, and the general public.
Upon request we supply clothing to Skowhegan Area Middle and High School Clothes Closets. We provide winter hats annually to each school in MSAD 54. We also work with many agencies and social workers across Somerset and Kennebec Counties. Many of these contacts are after hour meetings. With lists of needs we compile bundles of clothing for many families at a time. We work with area shelters, providing them with winter coats and shoes. We partner with Apparel Impact, N.H. a textile recycler that collects the clothing donations we do not use and repurposes them for other kinds of community support.
If you have difficulty in making it to the closet during our hours of operation, you can set up an appointment with our Team Lead, Amy Rouse at 207-441-5746.
We invite our neighbors to join us in our commitment to serving people living in the Skowhegan area and beyond!
The C.U.P. Café
The C.U.P. Café was created as a response to the Covid pandemic. Our volunteers wanted to extend another form of hospitality to our Clothes Closet clientele while they waited to shop. With funding provided by a Together for Tomorrow grant from the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, Centenary converted one of its classrooms to create space for the café.
Café is open on Wednesdays, 9AM – 12 Noon.
The C.U.P. Café’s mission statement is, “Conversation-Connection-Community.” It makes space available for people to gather for conversation and support. We offer free sit-down meals cooked with a homestyle flair. Our menu has included macaroni and cheese, chili, vegetable soup, chicken pot pie, baked beans and hotdogs, Mexican lasagna, vegetable stir fry, and a variety of freshly made sandwiches and fruit. We also provide coffee, juice, and a variety of snacks and baked goods.
The Cafe offers a small Take-a-Book/Leave-a-Book Library as well as access to high-speed internet to all CUP guests. As our patrons grab a bite to eat, we invite them to also take the opportunity to “recharge” their cell phones and electronic devices in the café.
A recent addition to the C.U.P. Café is our personal care pantry. Through the generosity of several partnerships with other non-profits, local businesses, and private donations we have a wide variety of personal hygiene products available free of charge.
These include toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, deodorant, razors, feminine hygiene products, baby wipes, diapers, and so much more! If you have a particular need and do not see it merchandised, please ask one of our volunteers for assistance.
An emerging offering at the Café involves tabling events by local social service and public health organizations. Representatives and health professionals appreciate this more informal way to meet potential clients and share information about their programs. C.U.P. is hoping to intensify its exploration of such partnerships at the Café.
CUP enthusiastically extends an invitation to local social service agencies to contact our Executive Director to arrange for a tabling event.
Tuesday Night Free Meal Program
Common Unity Place hosts The Tuesday night free meal program. This is a collaborative effort between CUP, Centenary United Methodist Church, and community volunteers. The program runs from September to June. Centenary donates the use of the kitchen and fellowship hall to prepare and assemble the meals to be picked up “curb-side” at the church. Limited home delivery is available if transportation is a barrier. The time it takes to plan and prepare the meals is completely volunteered.
CUP’s Free Meal Program gives out an average of 120 curb-side free dinners bi-monthly on the second and fourth Tuesday. Anyone wanting a meal can simply call the church at 207-474-3915, leave their name and number of meals. Pick up time is between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday evening.
The response from the community has been overwhelming. Not only are families being provided a nutritious meal but have expressed the sense of community established through this outreach.
