 I recently had the opportunity to tour the Hope House Health and Living Center in Bangor and I was incredibly moved by the work the organization is doing and the stories of the people who are benefiting from their service. The Hope House is made up of three parts - a low barrier homeless shelter, a health center, and transitional housing unit. Their mission is to provide shelter, food, housing opportunities, and medical and mental health care as a steppingstone to self-sufficiency for persons experiencing housing insecurity in our community. One story that struck me the most was of a divorced father who stayed at the Hope House after making the tough decision between paying his rent or paying for his children’s health insurance. Most of the people who stay at the Hope House are there just for a short period of time while they are finding work, addressing medical or mental health issues, or are seeking affordable housing. The Hope House provides a lot of support for their guests but they are always short on personal care items. Basic things like soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc... Things that we all take for granted but make a huge difference in our daily lives and in the way we feel about ourselves. Have you ever left the house without brushing your teeth (by accident?) I know I have done this and it just feels awful all day - you can't wait to get home to brush them! Imagine not having the resources or ability to access a toothbrush or toothpaste. So – we will be doing at WILCOX for personal care items for the Hope House. To make it interesting, for every item our clients donate they will be entered in a drawing to train their trainer. Our senior trainer, Katie is known for telling clients to make the training session ‘the best part of the day.’ Our clients are chomping at the bit to make their 30-minute training session the best part of her day. When approached with this opportunity to train a trainer, Mike Deveau, a client of Wilcox Wellness & Fitness said he would start the session with Jump Squats on the TRX followed by TRX pikes with only 8 second transitions after doing burpees on a Bosu ball. This would be followed up with the sled, sprints, sled again, with the Christmas board as the finisher… twice. If I were a trainer, all my fingers and all my toes would be crossed that Mike isn’t the name drawn for this prize.  Wilcox Wellness & Fitness will be accepting donations of personal care items – things like: toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, socks, etc.. May 22nd through June 5th.
A few people have asked us why we are doing the drive for personal care items of all things. It all comes down to Maslow’s theory of needs – food, housing, health, hygiene, safety – if those foundational needs are met, then people can work on bettering themselves. The Hope House has a good handle on the food, housing, health, and safety – it is the consumable hygiene products that they are regularly short on. At Wilcox Wellness & Fitness we help support people in becoming the best version of themselves. Helping the Hope House secure hygiene products is a natural extension of what we do. We are so excited to be able to make a positive impact in our community this way. Happy Training! Paige Wilcox Wilcox Wellness & Fitness
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