"Spring is the time of plans and projects." —Leo Tolstoy

After a couple of surprise heavy snowstorms in early April, spring has sprung in force in the "Pine Tree State" and we diligently prepare and plan for the plethora of projects we have lined up for this home repair volunteer season!

Keep reading for information on:

• Inaugural MATE "Golden Hammer" Award for Volunteer Service
• 2nd MATE Work Vehicle Needed
• Recent Visits to Allentown & Flemington Presbyterian Churches
• Start of the Site Assessment Process

MATE is blessed with dedicated and hard-working volunteer partners. We are grateful for the time, talent and skills of ALL who commit to help!

As part of MATE Matters this year, we will highlight the contributions and gifts of some of our inspirational volunteers through our newly-created "Golden Hammer Award".

Each month we will feature one volunteer who proves how lucky we are to know all of you. Our first Golden Hammer Award goes to Matt Bader. Please read the story that follows. Thanks, Matt! And thanks to all our incredible volunteer partners! MATE couldn’t do this work without you!

Meet Matt Bader - Inaugural Golden Hammer Award Recipient

By Larry Cowen, MATE Volunteer

What does it take to be team leader or site supervisor on a MATE housing recovery trip? It takes a rare combination of knowledge and experience with a heart for compassionate leadership and love for the people around you. Matt Bader of Bedford Presbyterian Church in New Hampshire provides an amazing example.

I have been a witness to Matt’s gifts on housing recovery trips for more than 15 years. Combining his deep construction skills with hilarious wit and a willingness to drop everything for anyone, Matt knows how to keep every member of his team engaged, productive, and having lots of fun. From his humorous T-shirt wisdom, to his expertise on any construction challenge, Matt is someone you truly want to work with on anything.

Matt playing air guitar during the 2022 Bedford Work Trip

Matt retired as an air traffic controller a few years ago. In addition to all his volunteer work with MATE and his church, Matt takes on selected construction projects, crafts beautiful wooden furniture, and is a dedicated family man. He is a gifted musician and singer, core to the church choir, and performs in local theater (lead in Guys and Dolls last year). He brews his own beer and cider, and makes scrumptious breads. Matt is a man of many talents.

Matt (red shirt) returned for an additional week in 2023, apart from his church service trip, to help us complete a challenging roof project.

Somehow, Matt’s teams inevitably find a way to accomplish the big goals set at the beginning of a work week. Anyone who has done this a few times understands why this is not typical.

There are always hidden complications, unexpected delays, failing or missing tools, oops and re-work. And there is the

human chaos that occurs when individuals work together for the first time, with a wide variety of experience, capabilities, interests, and pace. Matt handles it all with creativity, great humor, energy, patience and grace.

It is awesome to behold, and a huge reason why housing recovery is such a rewarding experience for those of us mere workers. It also comes from working with the dedicated staff and volunteers that make up the wonderful MATE organization. And Farmington is a fun place to visit. Of course, the greatest reward is meeting the homeowners, hearing their stories, and witnessing the happiness and hope they receive from the humble efforts of some people who care.

To nominate someone you know for the Golden Hammer Award, please email us by clicking the button below. In the subject line, state "MATE Golden Hammer Award Nomination", include at least one photo that we could use for the story (the more the merrier!), and a brief write-up, such as the one above, about why this person deserves the award. We can't wait to see all the wonderful stories from our incredible volunteers!

Current MATE Work Truck

Example of a Future MATE Work Van

As our readers know, MATE repairs homes in a 5-county area of Central Western Maine. That’s a lot of driving for our volunteer work teams and operations staff. Staff drive to deliver materials to work sites prior to groups arriving, get teams started on the work site, answer questions and make sure supplies are where they are needed throughout the week, and often pick-up the work sites after the volunteer group has departed.

MATE has one 10-year-old truck to transport supplies to job sites; otherwise, staff use their own vehicles, which makes it difficult to deliver and pick-up materials and tools when the truck is busy.

Dan Flint, our Operations Manager for the past 3 seasons, used his own work van to make those trips. He also stocked the van with special tools that made a repair job easier and faster for volunteers. It’s MATE’s goal in the future to add a work van to our fleet and stock it with those unique tools.

This season, however, we don’t have a second vehicle and are in need of one. If you, or someone you know, have a work truck or van that you would be willing to lend or rent to us for the season, or simply donate to MATE, it would be greatly appreciated and put to incredible use as we change a growing number of lives through volunteer home repairs. Please contact our Executive Director, Chris DeLisle, by clicking the button below.

Flemington Presbyterian Church

Allentown Presbyterian Church

This past weekend, we were thrilled to be able to visit two of our long-term church partners from New Jersey, Flemington and Allentown Presbyterian Churches.

Our Executive Director, Chris DeLisle, attended the Flemington "Volunteers in Mission" breakfast on Saturday morning as they fundraise for their summer service trip. On Sunday, he spoke at both morning services at Allentown, sharing updates from this past year's housing repair season, as well as some homeowner testimonials about what the home repair service means to them, and also about the future of MATE.

Thank you to Flemington and Allentown for hosting us and for your continued partnership in service as we seek to change the lives of our neighbors one home repair at a time!

This past Tuesday, our site assessment process began. Our Operations Manager, Assistant Operations Manager, Executive Director, and two local independent contractors serving as Site Assessment Specialists went out together as a team and conducted a variety of project assessments to ensure that the assessment process, no matter the project, is conducted in a consistent manner that will allow for the generation of accurate estimates.

We're bringing on more contract employees and specialized volunteers to help us finish the site assessment process sooner, allowing us to prepare further in advance for the summer work season, with the hopes of enhancing our communications with work teams prior to their visit, thus increasing efficiency and effectiveness on the job site, which will help us to serve more homeowners as the need continues to grow.

Joining the MATE staff and Site Assessment Specialists are volunteer Homeowner Liaison Specialists, from a number of local churches, who will connect with the homeowners to learn their stories and communicate this with the MATE staff to allow for further relationship development, while our Operations Manager, Assistant Operations Manager, and Site Assessment Specialists focus on collecting the information needed to create material estimates and work plans for the repair projects.

We plan to complete all of our site assessments next week, April 22-26.

• Become a homeowner partner (click button below for application)
• Volunteer to work (click button below to contact us)
• Donate time, talent or goods in support of our cause to build lives in Central Western Maine

We look forward to providing quality content to our followers to keep you all engaged and knowledgeable about the exciting things happening at MATE because of loyal supporters like you. Give us a follow!

We are extremely grateful and very excited for the future!

Mission Partner Grantors and Donors

• Presbyterian Women

Mission Partner Community Members

• Western Maine Community Action
• Center for Entrepreneurial Services

Mission Partner Churches

• Central Square Congregational Church
• St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church
• Supplee Presbyterian Church
• St. Joseph & Rose of Lima Parishes
• Pilgrim Church of Duxbury
• Supplee Presbyterian Church
• Stratford Street United Church
• Allentown Presbyterian Church

Memorial and Honoring Gifts

• In memory of Bob Beauregard
• In memory of Joyce Shatto

Individual & Family Donors

• Thank you to our many individual and family donors who make up the bulk of our donor base. We are so blessed to have you all behind the work we're doing in rural Central Western Maine!

**for the purpose of confidentiality, we will no longer reveal the names of our individual and family donors**