Groton ― Lori McClain, the executive director of Malta, Inc., said that over her years at the organization, she’s most proud of helping people experiencing homelessness feel seen and heard.

She said she’s worked to help meet the immediate needs of people, connected them to resources and made sure they felt valued.

At Malta’s Grove Avenue headquarters on Wednesday, McClain listened and talked with representatives of municipalities, agencies and organizations who sat around tables to discuss issues, from families facing eviction to an increase in elderly people experiencing homelessness, and tried to find solutions. The group regularly holds these roundtable discussions.

It’s one of the initiatives McClain has implemented at Malta, a faith-based organization that performs outreach to people facing homelessness.

Now, after first joining Malta in 2000 and helping it grow, McClain said she feels it’s time to retire, though she and her husband, Mark, will continue to volunteer.

‘Never looking back’

Malta was formed in 1999 by the late Richard W. “Dick” Krom, a retired naval captain, and a group of people, who began by delivering soup and sandwiches to people experiencing homelessness and then giving out clothing and toiletries, McClain said.

Malta’s board reached out to McClain in 2000 about becoming the organization’s street ministry coordinator, then the first and only staff position at Malta, but McClain initially didn’t see herself as a fit for the job.

McClain said that at the time, she understood the need, but had never met a person experiencing homelessness. She described herself as a person more apt to give financially than personally.

But after a conversation with her mother, who called her “Jonah, running away from God’s call to meet the people he will have you interact with,“ McClain called Malta back and decided to take the job. Jonah is a prophet in the Bible who refuses God’s command to prophesy in the city of Nineveh and later is swallowed by a whale.

When McClain went out on a freezing night with a van full of volunteers to give out soup and sandwiches to people, she was continuing to doubt herself.

Then, she said a man, who was experiencing homelessness, looked her in the eyes and told her he was so glad she was there. McClain said her heart melted, and she knew that this was the work she was supposed to do.

“I just had this rush of love that I had never felt before for strangers,” McClain said.

McClain said she never looked back. She continued on with her work before leaving for a period when she became ill around 2007. She got called back in 2018 as outreach coordinator, and she had a vision of where Malta needed to go in the future. As Malta expanded, her title changed to executive director last year.

Over the years, she has coordinated a myriad of tasks from scheduling volunteers to public relations.

Among Malta’s outreach efforts, volunteers go weekly to the New London Homeless Hospitality Center to give out items, such as new socks and underwear and new or gently used clothing. A breakfast ministry also started in Pawcatuck.

The organization has office hours at its Groton headquarters on Wednesdays during which people can get any assistance they need, including dry groceries, clothing, toiletries and help connecting to services.

Malta also helps people get uniforms they need for their jobs or helps people who have found a place to live with purchasing bedding, kitchen and bathroom items.

She said there are many programs in the region, but people still face gaps in service, for example, due to their unique circumstances or a delay in assistance coming through. That’s where Malta comes in to help.

Malta, which has about 60 volunteers and a small staff, works to meet the immediate needs of people materially, emotionally and spiritually, McClain said.

“We offer them the support they need in the meantime, and we try to help determine their needs,” McClain said.

Beth Botelho said that when she was homeless for six years and struggling with alcohol addiction, Malta gave her clothes, blankets in the winter time, and food ― and a feeling of self-worth because the volunteers never judged her.

Today, Botelho has a place to live through an agency and has been sober for more than a year and a half. With McClain’s encouragement, she helps people as lead volunteer at Malta.

“It feels fantastic because I’ve had people come in here and say ‘Thank you very much. I was afraid to come by,” and I say “Don’t be afraid” and then I tell them my story,“ Botelho said. ”I totally understand.“

Jahmarrah Thomas, a NLC Cares Navigator through Alliance for Living, who helps people struggling with substance abuse, said that when she needs to assist someone, whether it’s replacing an ID or getting work shoes, she can count on McClain.

“Lori has been a lifesaver,” said Thomas.

Continuing vision

McClain, 61, a City of Groton resident and professional artist who is married with two adult children who work for nonprofits, said she feels it’s time to pass the baton.

She said Malta’s incoming executive director, Tori Bulted, shares the same vision for the organization.

Bulted, 38, a Gales Ferry resident with two children, who is the shelter services manager for the New London Homeless Hospitality Center, will become the executive director of Malta on May 25. Bulted said she plans to split her time between the New London Homeless Hospitality Center and Malta.

“I really hope to reach people who are not easily reached, people who aren’t necessarily going to come up and ask for something, the people who are maybe afraid to ask for help,” Bulted said. “I desire to really let every human being that I encounter know that they have value, they were created for a purpose and that there’s hope for their future.”

More information about Malta, located at 20 Grove Avenue, Groton, is available at maltaoutreach.org or by calling (860) 373-3975 or emailing lori.malta.inc@gmail.com or Tori.malta.inc@gmail.com.

k.drelich@theday.com