LEWISTON — The Rev. John Robbins has been quietly caring for Lewiston’s homeless population for eight years. But last fall, when the Rev. Paul McLaughlin, Hope Haven Gospel Mission’s longtime director, left for a new ministry in Florida, leadership of the community’s largest homeless shelter fell on Robbins, the assistant director.

The Sun Journal wanted to know a little more about the new director.

Name: John W. Robbins

Age: 59

Hometown: Born in Clearfield, Penn; raised in Buffalo, N.Y.

Single, relationship or married? Married for 39 years come May 4th, 2012

Children? We’ve raised 5 children and are working diligently at spoiling our 12 grandchildren, four of whom live here in Lewiston.

The Rev. Paul McLaughlin led Hope Haven Gospel Mission for more than 20 years and was well-known throughout the community. What was it like to take over last fall? Pastor Paul was gracious enough to give us a year to prepare for the transition, so taking over was not such a leap as might be expected. Also, from our return to Hope Haven over 8 years earlier, I had been assuming increased responsibilities of the overall mission operation. On “The Day of Transition,” my desk simply went from the intermediate stop to the final stop for “passing of the buck.”

Any visitor to Pastor McLaughlin’s office was struck by his collection of dozens of eagle figurines. When you moved in, did you bring any collections? Just my personal library.

In your time with the mission — including your years as the assistant director — how has it changed? We have seen board members leave and be replaced, a few physical aspects of the building’s interior adjusted to meet specific goals, and an ever-increasing encumberment of oversight and regulations by the state.

From your perspective as the executive director, what do you believe is the role of the institution in the community? Our role is the same as it’s always been: to assist the needy of our community whether the need is material or spiritual.

Have you ever been homeless? I have never been homeless in the context that homelessness is understood by today’s definition.

Most people have an idea of what happens at a place like Hope Haven, but there are also misconceptions. What do you think the biggest misconception is? There are two primary misconceptions about Hope Haven, but by far the biggest is that we insist that those seeking our services express some sort of religious transformation in order to receive said services. Such is not, nor ever has been, the case. Being a faith-based organization, we do hold what can be termed religious services, but they are and have always been completely voluntary. No one has ever been refused services for not having participated. The second misconception is that we have the capability of meeting financial needs, which we do not.

An institution like Hope Haven is always asking for donations. What’s the most effective tool you have for raising money? The most effective tool we have for raising money is the public presentation of our goals and the needs we have in reaching those goals. This fact was proven above and beyond any doubt this past Christmas. We do this through mailings, local radio and television. More recently, we have secured the fund-raising services of a local individual to help us on a more local and personal, face-to-face level in our community.

As both a pastor and an administrator, can you divide the roles? The Bible provides ample instruction for the multiple facets of ministry, including that of administrator. Consequently, there’s no need for division.

Hope Haven is a faith-based institution. How do you deal with people who do not share your faith? Since the Mission goals and objectives are based in our faith, which is open to any and all who would believe, our dealings with all whether of our faith or not is equal — all have equal opportunity to and receive of what we have to offer, be it physical or spiritual.

What’s next for the mission? A couple of our short-term goals are to expand our bed-night services to include arrangements for those working other than day shift; an upgrade of our kitchen equipment. In longer term thinking, we would like to make an overall improvement with a new building to house at least our administrative and food service operations. Things like this require time in planning and execution, with adequate financing for both construction and on-going support being the linchpin.

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