SALEM TOWNSHIP — Helen Pinkham grew up in this Franklin County community, got married and had two children and three grandchildren.

“I have worked for Sugarloaf many years and Mt. Abram Health Center (in Kingfield) and now have been at the ministry a little over two years. Switched roles for a more rewarding job to help serve the community,” Pinkham said recently.

She is the executive director of the United Methodist Economic Ministry in Salem Township at 1458 Salem Road.

“Our nonprofit mission is to serve and help out the elderly, disabled and low-income families and anyone in hardship to any circumstances,” she said.

The United Methodist Economic Ministry exists to be in partnership with rural communities in western Maine to create healthy, sustainable communities within the region.

The ministry is a nonprofit organization managed by a board of directors and the executive director.

“We are always building new programs to help the communities,” Pinkham said.

Pinkham noted that although a number of the workers and volunteers in her organization share the Pinkham name — making it look like a family-run mission — they are actually not related to Helen.

Why did you get involved in running the program? The reason I took on this job is it was located in my home town and I wanted a rewarding career to be able to help others as much as I can. I know there’s struggles out there with food insecurity, household bills, and everyday life. By creating programs and support from the community we can help the elderly and low-income families.

What do you get out of it? By seeing the smiles on our customers face is the biggest reward.

What does the ministry do to help people? Lots of programs. Such as the food pantry, which is currently serving 173 families a month. A thrift shop for reasonable prices. We help set up people’s homes with furniture who have been relocated from fires and abusive relationships. We also have a warming center (that is being improved to stay open longer). We have heating oil at our facility for emergency use. We have a backpack and sneaker program, free new prom dresses for local schools, Christmas presents for families, (and) Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets. We have a housing project program, which entails mission teams coming in for week and they replace windows, build handicap ramps, paint homes, and anything that is possible to have a safe home.

How many employees, volunteers are there? We have five employees and 14 volunteers.

Do you have a building to work out of? The building we work out of is at least 3,600 square feet with a thrift shop, food pantry, workshop, warming center and storage area. We also have a furniture building for people to shop at a low price or at times we supply people’s homes after a fire or any situation. We have Art’s Guest House that sleeps up to 22 people that we use for mission trips and we’re also starting to use for short-term living for fire victims who need to be placed quickly.

How old is the organization? It is over 55 years old.

Are there improvements scheduled for the property? We just received a grant from the (Franklin County tax-increment financing program) to expand our warming/senior center. We are looking to start programs for seniors to gather once a week year-around.

What hours is the ministry open? We are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday. Food pantry hours are from 1 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.