Threads of Hope:
Don’t Just Leave It on the Side of the Road
By Catherine Shaw Bowker
You’ve seen it, the sofa on the side of the road wanting
a new home, the assemblage of household goods with
a cardboard sign announcing: Free. Finally deciding to
tackle the daunting task of cleaning out our basements
and garages, we inevitably unearth items we no longer
need. Too good to just toss in the trash, many of us put
our castaways on the side of the road hoping someone
will take them away. Ted and I are no exception.
Facing cartons of Beanie Babies, lawn chairs, baskets
and other assorted trappings taking up valuable space
in our garage, we planted our handy “Free Stuff” sign
at the end of our road, piled our unwanted ”stuff”
next to the sign and waited for someone to transport
it to a new home, which they did. We repeated this
process several times throughout the spring (we had
a lot of stuff). It was rare for anything to be left by
the next morning. The only exception was a blue LaZ-Boy rocker recliner – the poor thing sat there for
three days before we finally hauled him back to the
garage. He was still a good piece of furniture, but we
just did not have the room. We knew someone would
eventually claim him.
I don’t know when it finally dawned on us that there
is a better way to dispose of our items; perhaps it was
when I began scouring the Internet and area used
furniture stores for a desk for my office. My search
eventually led me to the Threads of Hope thrift store
in Presque Isle. What a trove of interesting items.
Although I did not find my desk, I did find everything
from the missing saucer from my grandmother’s tea
set to an antique trunk. I also discovered a place for
La-Z-Boy.
There are five Threads of Hope stores located in
Maine, three of them in Aroostook County - Caribou,
Presque Isle and Monticello. Part of the larger
organization Catholic Charities, the stores are one
of more than 40 programs the organization operates.
From home care for the elderly to child development,
case management, and dental assistance, Catholic
Charities has been serving Maine since 1966. Of
course, the Church has been helping the people of
Maine since the 1600’s, but it wasn’t until the 1960’s
that the numerous charities of the Church were
organized into a unified effort.
That effort was led by Aroostook county native Neil
Michaud, who was appointed Director of the newly
established Bureau of Human Resources in July of
1966. Charged with taking the fledgling organization
and developing it into a statewide charity, by
November, after completing his assessment of the
State’s needs, Michaud had a plan. He divided the
State into five districts each directed to implement
the plan in their areas of the State. Starting with a
budget of $50,000, Michaud and his team increased
the bureau’s budget t