UPDATE: The future of the beloved Friendship Cottage adult day care center in Blue Hill hangs in the balance as it must buy back its facility to continue serving adults with mental and physical disabilities. Amid the turmoil following the failure of Downeast Community Partners (DCP), supporters are launching a critical fundraising campaign for the second time since the center’s inception.
Friendship Cottage, which has operated for over two decades, is now faced with the urgent need to secure ownership of its property on Ellsworth Road. DCP ceased operations in October due to significant financial difficulties, leaving the center’s future uncertain. DCP currently owes the Maine Department of Health and Human Services over $4 million, leading to liens on multiple properties, including Friendship Cottage.
The adult day care center provides essential services, allowing families to work while ensuring their loved ones receive proper care. As a vital resource for many in Hancock County, Friendship Cottage offers nursing home-level care, meals, and community activities. Local resident Dede Johnson, whose husband Steve attends the center, expressed the dire implications of its closure: “If Friendship Cottage wasn’t here, someone would have to quit their job to come take care of my husband. We couldn’t survive in our household without it.”
Executive Director Ann Ossanna has been with Friendship Cottage since its founding and was devastated upon learning they might need to repurchase the facility. In 2005, she helped raise over $1.4 million to transform the former Left Side Cafe into an adult day care center. Now, they are scrambling to secure the building once again.
“The future of the facility depends on securing ownership of the property,” said a press release from the fundraising group, Friends of Friendship Cottage.
On November 17, the Friends of Friendship Cottage announced the launch of their urgent fundraising campaign. While the center continues operations under the fiscal sponsorship of the Aroostook County Action Program (ACAP), it is clear that without ownership, the center’s existence is at risk.
Barbra Clark, a dedicated volunteer and campaign organizer, highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the purchase: “We don’t know how much they’re going to ask for it.” ACAP Executive Director Jason Parent emphasized the need for community support: “We are working with a group of interested community members to hopefully purchase the facility. No solution is off the table at this point.”
Friendship Cottage currently serves 11 participants, five of whom require nursing home-level care. Following the closure of the Island Nursing Home in 2021, it stands as one of the few adult care facilities still operating in Hancock County. Ossanna fears that relocating the program would be nearly impossible and that the financial strain of renting could jeopardize their operations further.
“It feels like family,” Ossanna reflects on the center’s significance. “That’s what we hear again and again from caregivers, ‘you treat our loved ones like you would your own family.’” As the fundraising campaign progresses, community members are urged to rally support to secure the future of Friendship Cottage and the vital services it provides.
As the situation develops, attention will be focused on the fundraising efforts and negotiations surrounding the purchase of the Friendship Cottage property. The community’s response may very well determine whether this cherished facility continues to serve those in need.
