Waldo Community Action Partners (WCAP) was pleased to learn of our successful bid to purchase the University of Maine-owned Hutchinson Center as announced on Friday, November 15. Recognizing that there is a process to follow, WCAP intends to engage in thoughtful and intentional planning as the organization prepares for its future.
The next step is an appropriate appeal process. WCAP is aware that one of the other two bidders has availed themselves of the RFP appeal process just as WCAP and another bidder did in the first round of the RFP. WCAP respects the process and will patiently wait until we know the final outcome of the RFP before proceeding with or announcing specific plans.
WCAP has also learned that the Calvary Chapel Belfast has initiated a court action asking for an injunction on the sale. WCAP is unclear what the impact of this action will be at this time. WCAP adamantly denies assertions Calvary Chapel Belfast makes in their lawsuit that we have somehow conspired with the University to secure the winning bid. Any and all contact with the University during preparing the proposals and appeals throughout two rounds of bidding was about the appropriate forms to use and procedural questions only. No member of the Executive Committee, which includes the only WCAP board members involved in preparing the proposals, had contact with the University of Maine.
For nearly six decades, WCAP has diligently and compassionately served people in Waldo County – from the youngest to the oldest members of our communities, people from all ethnic and religious backgrounds and from any socio-economic status. WCAP is proud to serve people facing any number of personal or systemic challenges, including poverty, substance use, and mental health crises. WCAP advocates for all vulnerable people without discrimination. Perhaps the most important thing we have to offer people is hope through our programs and services as they face a variety of basic needs.
The people who work for WCAP are some of the most caring, open-minded, and professional individuals. They work relentlessly to help the people who come to WCAP for assistance. They are passionate advocates, and they treat people with dignity and respect.
WCAP operates within a complex nonprofit structure supported through multiple funding streams, each with their own set of carefully-adhered-to restrictions, reporting requirements, and external oversight, including audits. Additionally, each year an independent firm conducts an audit of WCAP’s entire agency financials, and that audit demonstrating financial fitness and good stewardship of funds is required by nearly every funder as a precursor to receiving funding. WCAP is literally required to be good stewards of any money we receive, and in some cases, this necessitates that we seek additional support from local municipalities, private donations, grants, and in-kind donations. For example, some contracts WCAP administers require us to cover the costs of salaries and direct client benefits upfront, operating under a reimbursement structure, while other funding comes with local match requirements.
This means that for WCAP to bring certain funding into the community, we must first demonstrate that we are financially sound and capable of sustaining the agency long-term and delivering the program or service the funding source is supporting. Generally speaking, the larger a nonprofit becomes, and the more programs and services a nonprofit administers, the more funds they are required to have in accounts to support ongoing service delivery. Following prescriptive procedures, nonprofits are also permitted to plan for capital investments and save or invest funds for future applications.
WCAP has intentionally worked to diversify funding and strategically invest in the future. This included saving and investing for more than a decade, which led to our purchase of land on Route 3. Then began a long process of planning for development of that land with a primary goal of constructing a community hub that would house our programs and operations and serve as a resource center for Waldo County for decades to come. In 2023, WCAP pursued and was granted Congressional funding in the amount of $2 million to further support development that would ultimately allow WCAP to bring all of its programs and services under one roof and shift from being a tenant of multiple agency locations, to being an owner of one central operations center.
A secondary goal for the land WCAP purchased on Route 3 is for potential housing development – an identified need in our 2021 Community Needs Assessment.
Using the tools available to nonprofits for such future capital investments, WCAP engaged in the planning process and through that process, learned that development of the land for the primary goal would require many more years of investing and savings, potentially indebting the organization long-term. The University of Maine’s announcement of their intentions to sell the Hutchinson Center presented an opportunity for WCAP to adjust our plans and still achieve our primary goal, in a much shorter timeframe and at a reduced cost. Thus, the WCAP Board of Directors approved pursuit of the Center at their July meeting.
WCAP was one of three organizations submitting a bid during the first RFP. Despite having a highly competitive bid that matched the winning proposal on price and presented competitive terms, the university chose another bid. Both non-winning organizations submitted appeals during that first round in accordance with the University’s appeal process. The University denied both of WCAP’s appeals, which are public record. However, the University did decide to rescind the original RFP to review their process and ultimately issued a second RFP. All three organizations that submitted proposals in the first round also submitted proposals in the second round.
Having had more time to evaluate our position and the potential impact to the community WCAP ownership of the Hutchinson Center would provide, we revamped our proposal for the second round. Our proposal offered a fair and reasonable bid that would ultimately help us achieve our vision for the Center sooner and much more cost-effectively than a new construction project that might take many years to bring to fruition. Our intentional long-term planning, with dedicated building reserves and CDS grant, made it possible for us to submit a bid that will only benefit our program and service delivery in the community. No program funds were used to make this purchase, so we can reassure the community that all WCAP programs and services will continue to be delivered as per usual regardless of the outcome of this RFP process.
We will be eager to share more specific information about our intentions for using the space once the appeal and court decisions are announced if we remain the chosen bidder throughout that process. However, we will state this much, with confidence, to allay curiosities we know exist in the community: WCAP’s vision for the Hutchinson Center is one that includes collaboration and space-sharing for the benefit of the Belfast and Waldo County community. Access to resources, educational activities, and community event and meeting spaces are all part of the WCAP vision for the space, and we feel that our vision aligns with the original intentions for the Hutchinson Center.