Community Concepts Opening Maine’s First-Ever
Family Resource Center

August 11, 2026

LEWISTON, ME ­– Last year, Community Concepts (CCI) moved its offsite Family Playgroup to our Lewiston offices, starting a year-long buildout of the Family Resource Center, bringing a successful national model of family support to Maine for the first time ever.

Now, CCI is inviting reporters to see how the FRC can serve as a Whole Family hub for services and resources. This is also a first of its kind collaboration with Maine Children’s Trust and a Maine Prevention Council mission investment to support families and parents, as well as individual community members.

Led by CCI’s Prevention Council Team, The FRC model seeks to solve an unmet community need for wraparound supports in a single location, such as HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) and mental health supports; budgeting and parenting classes. With in-person multilingual support — including French and Lingala — the playroom is available for safe play for children while their parents or caregivers are attending appointments.

What is an FRC?
A community hub that provides free or low-cost, non-stigmatizing support services to strengthen families. These centers use a multi-generational, prevention-focused, strengths-based approach to prevent crises and promote child and family well-being.

• Prevention Focused Built to support families, child development, and school readiness.
• Strengths Based Recognizes & builds upon existing capabilities of parents & communities.
• Inclusive & Accessible Universal, low-barrier entry tailored to local cultural needs.

With the playroom now open, and drop-in spaces, the Family Space room and the Welcome Center undergoing final renovations in August 2026, the FRC is also welcoming collaborating partner agencies, positioning itself as a hub for nonprofit services in L/A. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Nutrition was among the first to join, launching “WIC Wednesdays” in July.

“A crucial component of the FRC is partnering with other agencies in these spaces,” said Jim Martin, CCI CEO, “We will be able to more efficiently refer families and individuals to concrete supports, like diapers, food resources, and childcare. That’s in addition to our whole menu of wrap-around, whole family services, such as financial coaching, mental health supports, parenting classes, home visiting, help with navigating childcare––sometimes families just need that one piece of support like HEAP in order to get back on their feet and ultimately thrive and achieve self-sufficiency, breaking the cycles of poverty.”

The FRC will be overseen by Prevention and Customer Service Director, Melissa Green, who says that Playgroup has even been a benefit to families who visit from outside the L/A region to join other parents with their children.

“Word has already spread for families, some of whom live in Oxford County and still visit us in Lewiston for Playgroup on Thursdays,” said Green, “and once the Family Space is open by the end of summer, we are hoping that more partner organizations collaborate with us to host their services for their clients as well as ours for their clients.”

Timeline of Events | More info at CCIMaine.org –> Our Services –> Family Resource Center

October 2025 – Playgroup Room moved on-site to Lewiston office in former HEAP department.
December 2025  to March 2026 – Partner organization outreach and collaboration.
July 2026 – Start of WIC Wednesdays and partner organizations utilizing the FRC.
August 2026 – Public announcement of first-ever FRC in Maine.
September 2026 – Family Space anticipated to be complete; reception area renovations anticipated to be completed as part of FRC Welcome Space.
October 2026 – Open House to be scheduled for community members to mark one year and celebrate full operational capabilities of the FRC; further collaboration with partner organizations.