Welcome to Mission at the Eastward
Creating safe places to live, providing transitional housing, enriching the lives of children and youth, and building resiliency in our Central Western Maine communities.
We BUILD Lives!
McCleary House Renovation Project
There are a variety of important ways you can support the transformation.
Congratulations! After careful consideration, The Creative Ministries Offering Committee of Presbyterian Women (PW) has decided to fund your project up to $80,000
This was awesome news!!! Thank you PW for helping us fund the rest of the full renovation of the McCleary House!
Our Main Mission
MATE is comprised primarily of 3 ministries serving Western Central Maine. Follow the links below to explore:
MATE Youth Connection
MATE Youth Connection is Enriching the lives of youth through fun, mentorship and relationship.
MATE Housing Ministry
MATE Housing Ministry promotes the dignity of all by providing home repairs for safer, warmer and healthier homes.
Transitional Housing
MATE’s newest ministry responds to a critical shortage of affordable housing for those in need. The first step is transforming McCleary House.
Welcome! Come Join Us!
Each summer, volunteer work teams visit MATE, bringing 300-400 passionate people from all over the country, primarily from along the eastern seaboard, to serve our neighbors in rural Central Western Maine. Volunteers are the backbone of MATE, repairing homes for those struggling with financial uncertainty or physical limitations.
We need your help!
Our mission is to love our neighbors through volunteer home repairs, transitional housing, and youth outreach to create lives of hope, security, and dignity in Central Western Maine. We serve the economically disadvantaged, including families, children and youth, veterans, people with disabilities, the elderly and single-parent families. Whether it’s giving your time to volunteer or providing monetary support, you have a positive, lasting impact on our communities!
Your gifts help us fix another home and keep a family safe and warm, enable greater outreach to youth who need love and support, and help us renovate and build homes to provide temporary transitional housing for the growing homeless population in rural Maine.

MATE welcomes YOU to participate on our volunteer home repair teams. Come for a week or just one or two days. You can either bring your own team of volunteers, join a team already here, or work by yourself. You don’t need construction experience or special skills; there is work for all.
If you’re thinking about volunteering but aren’t sure, MATE has experienced team leaders called MATE Ambassadors available to provide information about what it’s like to work on MATE projects or how to organize a team for your church or organization. They are happy to answer questions. Contact us to connect to a MATE Ambassador.
MATE is a faith-based nonprofit, started by the Presbyterian Church (USA) over 60 years ago to address the needs of the churches, communities, and residents of Central Western Maine. In 2023 we partner with many different churches and faith organizations, businesses, other nonprofits, community groups, colleges and universities and others.