Marc Madore, a soft spoken man with a riot of gray curls and a trendy goatee, dons a bright yellow T-shirt and grabs his equally bright sling bag.

His Crocs pad quietly on the sidewalks of downtown Lewiston.

These streets are familiar to him.

He grew up in the downtown and four times per week, he and another female prowl about, not looking for trouble, but looking for troubled youth.

Madore is the outreach director at New Beginnings, a drop-in center and organization that serves homeless or at-risk youths.

“We’re the safety bet for homeless youth and up to age 22 years,” Madore said. “And we’re here to catch them when there is no place else for them to go.”

They use the Street Outreach and the soup kitchen outreach on Thursdays as a way to be visible in the community, gaining trust  and teaching people about the programs offered through the organization.

That’s just in case someone they talk to might be in trouble, or might know someone who is.

“We’re very low barrier and we’re respectful of all situations so they know they can trust us. They know we are not part of the authorities that will get them in trouble,” Madore said.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, a male and a female head out from the Lisbon Street drop-in center, armed with condoms, tampons, pads, toothbrushes, toothpaste, first aid supplies, and needle cleaning kits. Sometimes, usually when they are visiting a homeless encampment, they will take snacks and water as well.

“One of the primary emphases is HIV prevention, and the needle cleaning kits are part of that,” Madore said.

And people know who Madore is.

Undaunted by a camera and an unknown female, men would call out “hey condom man!” and jump off their perch on a stoop to grab a package of condoms.

Sometimes the interaction was a nod or a quick gesture, and the person would cross the street as Madore waited.

Generally, the encounters were brief, but Madore always tried to engage the person whether it be a female or male, to make sure they were OK and did not need anything else.

After doing this for the past eight years, people know him by name.

The best thing for Madore, though, is connecting with the people he serves at the center.

“It’s fun to be out in the community,” he said.

And even though he sees a lot of trouble in the faces downtown, he sees the humanity throughout the community.