Home Away From Home Bangor establishment offers women spiritual, save haven

Not long ago on a cold, rainy, blustering night, after 12 o’clock, a patrolman found a girl on Main Street, thinly clad, and shivering. Upon questioning her the officer learned that she was a stranger in the city in search of work, and that she had been wandering about the streets all night, not knowing where to lay her head.

If there had been no King’s Daughters’ Home she would have been taken to the police station for shelter, among the criminal inmates, to her shame and degradation. As it was the policeman at once went with her to the home and upon application from him she was admitted, warmed, fed and given a clean bed to sleep in. She stayed at the home until she found work, and so, perhaps, was saved from many things which might have befallen her.

When the patrolman who found this girl told the incident sometime afterwards, he said, Every time I pass that house, and see the lights in the windows, I feel like thanking God that there is such a place in Bangor.

Bangor Daily News, 1905

Nearly 100 years later, on Dec. 3, the three-story King’s Daughters Home at 89 Ohio St. held its annual open house and still promotes “the temporal, moral and intellectual welfare of girls and women.”

The home was founded in 1891 by the Order of King’s Daughters, a Christian women’s organization of representatives from 14 Bangor churches. It was a rented house at 35 Columbia St. with a matron and one boarder, and within a year it became more than just a place to eat and sleep, offering cooking, craft and sewing classes.

Today, seven women residents from late teens to middle age lead very different lives. Some are traditional college students; others, young professionals. Five live in private rooms and two live in the four-bed dorm-style room on the third floor.

Amy Boucher, 19, came to Bangor last year to study at the Bangor Theological Seminary and the University of Maine. She found the KDH through the seminary and lived there last year. This year, she lives at the (Protestant) Wilson Center at UM.

“I loved living here,” Boucher said at the open house. “This is a family. It totally feels like home. The best part was the food. Now, I’m cooking for myself and I’ve gone from pot roast to toast.”

Sandy Lowden, 46, who works at a kennel in Brewer, returned to the house after an absence of several years. Lowden missed being with people and said that it was “nice to live with people who share the same belief system.”

The Rev. Richard Lambert and his wife, Judy, help create that homey atmosphere, Boucher said. The couple live on the premises and are resident directors. Judy Lambert prepares weekly menus that are posted on the refrigerator.

Originally, the house served transient women who probably paid by the day or week, Lambert said. Hundreds went through the KDH in a year, and the house could accommodate 21 or 22 women at a time.

“Back then, a girl would have had little suitcase,” Lambert observed. “Now she arrives with a TV, a computer and boombox. A decade ago or so, the board downsized to give them more room and created a lease system. We really target college-bound women between 18 and 25, especially those who come from outlying areas and feel like Bangor is a big city.”

The KDH offers an independent but not isolated lifestyle in a smoke-free and drug-free environment with off-street parking, shared bathrooms, kitchen privileges and a resident staff available for emergencies. Rent is between $300 and $380 a month, depending on the size of the room, and includes two meals a day, Monday through Friday, and all utilities.

Richard Lambert served as pastor of the Levant Village Baptist Church for 13 years. Before that, he served three small congregations for six years.

Judy Lambert, who grew up in Kingfield, said the two decided to make a career change five years ago. “We were looking for a ministry that would be different from a solo pastor ministry. … The most rewarding thing about this work is helping the students make the transition from living at home to living on their own and being happy. Once they find freedom and get going on their own, it is so much fun to watch that transition.”

Four years ago, the Lamberts began using the season as an opportunity to share the house with the congregations of the 12 churches that help support it, as well as other community members. Former residents return with friends, and potential boarders can see the entire house.

Despite the house’s Christian roots and connections, the KDH offers a nondenominational atmosphere. Lambert said when boarders have questions, her husband refers them to the Bible, lets them “dig through Scripture and come to their own conclusions.”

“These girls know they are coming into a Christian environment. They know that we are born-again Christians, the Lord’s name will be spoken here but will not be taken in vain, and that we say grace before meals. If they want to go to a particular church, but don’t want to go alone, we go with them.”

That Christian atmosphere is very important to Beckie Sheldon, 29, who moved in last fall when she changed jobs. She said she has lived with family and lived alone, but prefers the KDH.

“Here, I don’t have to worry about sharing my beliefs,” said Sheldon, who came to Bangor from Newport. “I feel comfortable sharing my own faith experience with the people here. It’s so wonderful.”

For more information, call Judy Lambert at 945-3844.