Sarah Lundin made a quick and strong connection with Freeport Community Services.
Lundin is the new family services coordinator, and has been on the job for two weeks. She succeeds Susan Mack, who left to become a full-time farmer.
Lundin, 31, couldn’t be happier with the job.
“When I had applied I had never been here, and when I got through my first interview I didn’t want to leave,” Lundin said last week. “And now I don’t have to.”
Melanie Sachs, executive director of Freeport Community Services, said that Lundin is an excellent fit for a job that involves many responsibilities at the social service agency.
“She brings a wealth of experience in many of the community services that we feature here,” Sachs said. “The was an immediate, warm connection with staff, volunteers and clients. She has fresh ideas.”
Lundin, a Gorham resident who grew up in Yarmouth, nearly took a different career path – in veterinary sciences. She worked at the Yarmouth Pet Center through her years at Yarmouth High School, and started out studying veterinary sciences at the University of Southern Maine. Then she took sociology courses, and everything changed.
“I loved it,” Lundin said. “It just made sense. It all clicked.”
Lundin completed an internship with Family Crisis Services her senior year at USM. During two years at Family Crisis Services, she helped run a homelessness-prevention and rapid rehousing program, a grant-funded position with the city of Portland. Then she moved on to Westbrook, where she was the general assistance and community outreach coordinator the past four years.
“Now I’m serving a new community, and working for an organization with that focus,” she said.
Among other duties at Freeport Community Services, Lundin will oversee the food pantry, begin gearing up for the FCS Free Summer Lunch program and, in general, address the needs of the community as presented to her. In the winter, Freeport Community Services runs several programs that help people in need heat their homes and provide food.
Lundin is married to Richard Lundin, who works in Lewiston.
“We want to live in this area,” she said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know the community, and the volunteers.”
Sarah Lundin is the new family services coordinator at Freeport Community Center.Staff photo by Larry GrardSend questions/comments to the editors.
