Kevin Boilard and his team operate the emergency warming center in the former Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Kaydenz Kitchen has been a homecoming of some sorts for Kevin Boilard. Through the nonprofit, the Lewiston native has found his way back to his lifelong passion of helping those in need. Doing what he does, Boilard feels right at home.

“I grew up with the mindset that it was paycheck over passion; that it was really more about the labels and the income and the salaries,” Boilard recalled. “I chased that for a good decade to start adulthood and quickly realized that’s not really where the most fulfillment in life comes from.”

Boilard abandoned an established career in corporate work before starting Kaydenz Kitchen. “In a weird, deluded way in today’s society, it’s been very easy to sacrifice a paycheck for a passion. It’s been rewarding on a whole different level that dollar signs can never really bring,” he said.

In eight years since a little girl inspired a big undertaking, Kaydenz Kitchen has come a long way.

“The heart of Kaydenz Kitchen stemmed from our daughter’s ideas and her passion for helping others when she was nine,” Boilard said. “Kayden is still heavily involved with Kaydenz Kitchen and the big picture goals and vision that we’re pursuing.”

Kayden Boilard looks up over one of her care packages she and her father were about to deliver from their home in Lewiston in 2018. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file

Earlier this year, Kaydenz Kitchen was tapped to lead a city-run homeless shelter. The nonprofit was also put in charge of an emergency warming center at the former Schemengees Bar & Grille on Lincoln Street for the winter. Both decisions were a significant move in Lewiston’s efforts to establish a low-barrier adult shelter.

“We’ve had the mother and father of a victim of the (Oct. 23, 2023, Lewiston mass shooting) come into the building, hang out and shed tears and express their emotions and just hug us and thank us for the work we’re doing and the opportunity we’re providing for hope,” Boilard said.

“Kindness inspires kindness,” Boilard said. “We live in a world filled with so much hate, fear, distrust. Negativity can become contagious. But at the same time, I genuinely believe that kindness can become contagious on the completely opposite end of that spectrum too.”

What Boilard does is difficult and rewarding at the same time. However, he has found a way to cope.

“I would have never imagined being on the verge of opening Androscoggin County’s first 24-7 low-barrier shelter five years ago,” Boilard reflected. “If I see or feel there’s a problem or a concern, I immediately want to address it and figure out a solution and how to move forward. Doing what I do, I’ve quickly learned that you’re never going to be able to make everybody happy,” he said.

“Some may say we enable the problems, that we draw out homelessness by providing services. But really, those day-to-day interactions, little small victories connecting with people, helping a vulnerable individual with the smallest little thing that the average person takes for granted, those matter the most,” Boilard said.

Kevin Boilard and his team operate the emergency warming center in the former Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Homeless advocate Megan Parks has worked closely with Boilard and Kaydenz Kitchen since 2021.

“Kevin doesn’t come from a social service background. (Our team) has more of that behavioral health perspective, and he has a ‘there’s a need and I want to fill it’ perspective,” Parks said. “He’s been really patient with us and open-minded and willing to learn better ways to interact with the homeless population and to deal with some of the frustrations that come with the work,” Parks said.

“Kevin’s sacrificed a lot of family time. The amount of time that’s gone into this over the last few years … he’s really made personal sacrifices to see this through,” Parks said.