Sprouting at Old Orchard Beach

by Hugo Bravo

When Salvation Army soldier Morgan Irish-George and her husband, Eddie, moved from Kentucky to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, finding young families like theirs and playmates for their 1-year-old son, Charlie, took some extra effort on Morgan’s part. Take away the summer tourists, and Old Orchard Beach is an older community, made up of mostly retirees.

“Eddie had just become the divisional music director for the Army in Maine, and I had a job that allowed me to work from home,” says Morgan. “I asked our officers at the Old Orchard Beach Corps if I could start a play group in the building for parents like me, and they agreed. Thanks to the corps’ nursery, which was only being used on Sundays, we already had the space for it.”

Morgan started promoting the play group, now known as Sprouts, on Facebook and other social media. On every first and third Tuesday of the month, families would be welcome to bring their young children to the corps at Old Orchard Beach to meet, play, and enjoy a free lunch.

“Sprouts is not a drop-off day care. It’s for parents and children to engage, share fellowship, and learn about the resources available to them, such as social services and after-school programs if they have older kids,” says Morgan.

Sprouts has connected with Maine Families, a state program that provides support for parents and their children through programs, resources, and home visits. Maine Families has promoted Sprouts to its own clients and will be hosting connected play groups with The Salvation Army in the summer.

“Maine Families will be bringing in a science teacher to do STEM activities with us. It’s a partnership that will introduce Sprouts to even more families that may not be able to afford expensive kids’ clubs or play groups,” says Morgan. “Also, Maine has a very high number of parents that home-school their children. I’d love to find ways to reach out to that population.”

Some Sprouts parents who grew up going to a church, but no longer attend, have also shown some interest in worshiping at the corps on Sundays.

“It can be difficult for young families to look for and start attending a new church, but the hope is that being inside the building where you can also worship makes the process easier,” says Morgan.

Though Sprouts has seen its highest numbers in the winter and spring months, Morgan says it will continue in the summer, even though many families are away during these warmer months.

“Sprouts is still sprouting,” says Morgan, “and we don’t want the OOB community to lose sight of what is happening at the corps.”