The end of 2018 brought uncertainty to Madison's Cafe in South Berwick, but 2019 came with hope.
The business opened in 2017 with the purpose of giving work opportunities to adults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Owner Nicole McCoomb named the business after her daughter Madison. She wanted a place for her to work after she graduates from high school, but staying open has been a struggle.
A dip in customers and a building lease ending meant Madison's was in danger of closing at the end of 2018. State Representative and Madison's Regular, Tiffany Roberts-Lovell, was heartbroken to read the news on Facebook.
"(The) atmosphere is great, the mission of the cafe is just so important and Nicole's passion and her drive and her heart, to do this and to make a difference it's inspiring," said Roberts-Lovell.
The day before Roberts-Lovell was elected, she started a GoFundMe page to raise enough money to keep Madison's open. That effort has collected almost half it's $30,000 goal. Enough money to make a big difference going into the new year.
"We just resigned our lease for another year," said McCoomb. "That was a big, big decision for us because we weren't really sure how we were going to it and then when the GoFundMe was started we were like ok this is looking really really good."
South Berwick will still have Madison's Cafe as an option to stop for a coffee or bite to eat in 2019. The mission of offering work opportunities to those like 23-year-old Alex Ferguson, who might have a hard time finding employment elsewhere, will continue.
"I was really happy and excited to hear that we're going to be able to stay open," said Ferguson.