Four years ago, several churches in the Damariscotta area discovered an unmet need that was literally under their nose — a homeless young man was found sleeping overnight in the pews at Newcastle’s Second Congregational Church and later at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

This encounter led to the young man finding help and shelter at Tedford Housing’s shelter in Brunswick. But it also motivated many people in our community to start looking more closely at homelessness, a largely invisible problem that affects teenagers, young families and older individuals as well in Lincoln County.

Those initial conversations in 2011 led ultimately to the creation of the Ecumenical Council for Homeless Prevention, an informal group of people from five local churches. The council has worked out a formal relationship with Tedford Housing for sponsoring a case manager at Newcastle’s Food Pantry each Tuesday. The case manager provides counseling and assistance for people facing housing crises. The council has also worked to raise money for short-term motel stays, for emergency oil deliveries and for security deposits for renters.

In 2014, Tedford’s case manager received 38 requests for housing assistance out of a total of 91 requests of all types, ranging from CMP arrear-ages and disconnections to help with heating oil. More than 40 percent of all assistance went for emergency housing needs in an amount exceeding $9,300 in payments to landlords.

“There is a real need for occasional help in our community for families trying to live on minimum wage jobs or just getting by during a period of unemployment,” said Steve Ward, who chairs the ecumenical council.

Now the ecumenical council has launched a new initiative. Starting in April, it began disbursing funds from The Mid-Coast Homeless Fund to deal with security deposits and tenant evictions in Lincoln County. The fund is in an account maintained by the Damariscotta Baptist Church but it receives pledges from other area churches, from individuals and from service organizations. To date, the fund agent, Alden Sproul of Bristol, has addressed a series of housing-related crises in Edgecomb, Newcastle, Damariscotta and Waldoboro.

“There often is a very small window for getting help to folks who otherwise will be sleeping in a car or a shed,” Sproul said. “But landlords have been very responsive when we step in with timely help.”

All donations to The Mid-Coast Homeless Fund are tax-deductible and are gratefully welcomed. The regular members of the Ecumenical Council are St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Water of Life Lutheran Church, Newcastle’s Second Congregational Church and the Damariscotta Baptist Church. The Mid-Coast Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship has also contributed financially to this effort. The group meets on the second Tuesday of each month at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Newcastle and visitors are welcome.