Home Counselors Inc., founded by Projects, Inc. under the original name “Home Builders,” was first established as a domestic crisis counseling program. In its earliest stages, the organization focused exclusively on interventions with dysfunctional families – dispatching trained counselors to homes in crisis.

Now operating independently, Home Counselors has evolved substantially over the past 27 years: expanding its services to include homeless youth outreach and supervised family visitations. The story of Home Counselors’ development – and Projects’ role in its beginnings – serves as an exemplary model for non-profit growth and sustainability.Home Counselors (originally “Home Builders”) was formed by Projects, Inc. in 1982 after the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) approached Projects for help creating a counseling intervention program for youth in troubled homes. DHHS selected Projects because of its excellent track record in implementing programs for disaffected youth in school systems. The idea was to use schools to identify and refer youth (and their families) to the Maine Mental Health system. Recalls Perry Gates, Director of Projects, Inc.: “There was an awareness that in a case where a father is physically abusing his son, that neither of those two individuals is going to have the capacity to step back, asses the situation and say ‘Hey, maybe we should seek counseling for this problem.’”With the support of DHHS, Projects created a program focused on what Gates refers to as “unrelenting intervention.” With state funding, Projects hired a staff of counselors trained in crisis intervention and established referral programs at school systems through midcoast Maine. The goal was to identify abusive home environments at school and then introduce counseling into the home. The initiative served as a pilot program for other school referral programs that were eventually implemented statewide. For the next three years, “Home Builders” received referrals from school systems in midcoast Maine to the homes of abused children. Once referred, the student and a guardian had to agree to enter counseling, at which point Projects appointed a staff counselor to the home. Counselors typically spent three to four hours a day in counseling with the family in an attempt to diffuse the crisis. Once the crisis had been resolved, counseling continued and individuals were often referred to the Maine Mental Health system. By 1985 “Home Builders” had expanded to the point where it was ready to become an independent organization. Removing itself from the Projects umbrella, “Home Builders” sought private incorporation under its current name: Home Counselors, Inc (HCI).

Since then HCI has expanded rapidly. Under the leadership of Executive Director Paul LeCompte, the organization has grown from an annual operations budget of $108,000 in 1986 to a $3.2 million annual budget in 2007 (with a total incremental budget of $23 million). Spanning Knox, Lincoln, Waldo, Sagadahoc, Kennebec and Somerset counties, HCI provides Home-based Family Preservation services, Alternative Response, Supervised Family Visitations, and Homeless Youth Outreach. LeCompte says that the Alternative Response program services about 500 families a year and that HCI serves about 150 families per year in Visitation. In addition, 5,700 bed nights have been provided to 212 homeless youth since 2001. Dollar for dollar, HCI stands as the most significant accomplishment in Projects’ thirty year history. “While the true credit for HCI’s explosive growth goes to Paul LeCompte and his staff,” says Gates, “I can’t help but be proud of Projects role in laying the foundation for this wonderfully successful organization. DHHS approached us because of our collection of successful youth oriented service programs. Interestingly enough, HCI ended up becoming the flagship member of that group.”