“Every time LifeFlight flies over, there is a family behind it,” said Jeri Maurer, director of Guest Relations at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.
Maurer was talking about the fact that the victim of any crisis handled by LifeFlight usually has a family, and that family is generally from out of town and needs a place to stay locally while their loved one is being treated at the hospital.
Arbor House, CMMC’s hospitality house, is that place, offered free of charge to hospital patients and their families.
The three-story building on the corner of Hammond and Main streets in Lewiston is a former feed store that was renovated into 15 bedrooms, including some one- and two-bedroom apartments.
The patients and their families could be at the hospital for a variety of reasons, ranging from chemotherapy to an auto accident.
The guests are screened to ensure the comfort of everyone staying there and asked to pay $25 a night only if they are a large family and require the full use of a two-bedroom apartment. Otherwise, Arbor House runs on donation only.
“People ask me what I should donate and I tell them to give what they can,” said Pauline Tardiff, the part-time housekeeper at Arbor House for the past 13 years. “For some, they can’t afford to give at all. And that’s OK.”
Tardiff makes sure the floors are clean and the rooms are prepped for the incoming guests of the house, which can sometimes have a waiting list.
Close to 600 people stay at the house each year and most share their stories in journals left around the house.
“One lady whose daughter was in the ICU after a car accident said that this place was the place where she could come and yell and scream and cry so that when she returned to her daughter’s side, she could be strong for her,” said Maurer. “That’s really what this house is all about.”
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- The Arbor House runs on a budget of $25,000 a year to pay for such things as Internet, telephone, cable television, heating and electricity. “But the bills add up,” said Jeri Maurer, director of Guest Relations for CMMC. Donation envelopes are left in the rooms so guests can make donations.
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- “Arbor Angels” come in every year to decorate the house for the holidays.
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- Guests at Arbor House leave their stories and words of encouragement for future guests in journals scattered throughout the house.
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- The single-bedroom apartments have a shared bathroom, but separate and secure sleeping areas.
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- Washer and dryers, with supplied laundry detergent, are located in hallway closets for the guests of Arbor House, who have stayed from a night or two to four to five months.
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- Guests are apprised of the rules, such as absolutely no smoking, before being allowed to stay at Arbor House. To ensure guests’ safety, the house is always locked and security personnel frequently walk through the building.
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- Pauline Tardiff, part-time housekeeper at the Arbor House, checks her pager while in the living room of one of the house’s two-bedroom apartments. “I meet some really great people here,” said Tardiff.
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- Food in the cupboards is clearly marked to identify things purchased by guests. Along with small pantry items, the Arbor House is always looking for donations of small, travel-sized toiletries as well as tall garbage bags and dryer sheets. Also needed are books for adults and up-to-date magazines.
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- The common area of one of the two-bedroom apartments has its own dining room, living room, kitchen and bathroom. Generally, the apartments are shared by two families and the bedroom doors lock to ensure privacy.
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- The common areas on the first floor include a kitchen and sitting area for those staying on the first floor in the handicapped-accessible rooms.
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- Christmas music plays softly in the background of the front library, which has a computer with dial-up Internet access for use by people staying there. “Our policy here is that if you’re reading a book while staying here and you don’t finish it by the time you leave, you take it with you,” said Jeri Maurer, director of Guest Services at Central Maine Medical Center.
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- The cupboards of the Arbor House are stocked by donors.
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- The Arbor House at the corner of Hammond and Main streets in Lewiston is a free place to stay for Central Maine Medical Center patients and their families. It was opened in 1993 at a different location, but is now right across the street from the hospital.
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