Happy Wednesday!
This is the Community Caring Collaborative Weekly Communiqué where we share announcements about trainings, meetings and other events, including announcements from our collaborative partners. Look for links to meeting minutes and agendas in the Meetings section, training registration forms and flyers in the Events section, and job postings and other items of interest in the Announcements section. Subscribe here to get the Communiqué. Make sure to add Community Caring Collaborative to your contacts at claurel@cccmaine.org. Gmail users, check for the Communiqué under the Promotions tab. This mailing goes out every Wednesday, so if you have announcements, please send them to Christine by 5 pm Monday to be included. Thanks!
Photo above courtesy of Jennifer Peters
Announcements
Tai Chi for Arthritis: Certified Tai Chi instructor, Christine Morris, is now offering a Tai Chi class specifically designed for people with chronic issues like Arthritis. Classes are Monday nights from 5:30-6:30 at Peaceful Postures, 263 North Street in Calais, sponsored by Eastern Area Agency on Aging (EAAA). Participants do not need Tai Chi experience, nor a high degree of mobility. The class can even be geared for people sitting. There is a fee which supports EAAA programming. Call 454-1185 for more information.
My Money Works: New Ventures Maine is offering its core class on managing money. April 10,17,24 May 1, 8, from 10 am to 1 pm at the Machias Career Center, presented by SarahJoy Chaples. Read the flyer for more information. Register by Email: classes@connectwithaxiom.com; phone: 207-255-4917; or online: axiom.coursestorm.com.
Recovery Coach Training in Calais: Healthy Acadia is excited to offer a Connecticut Community for Addiction (CCAR) 30-hour Recovery Coach Training on April 10th, 11th, 12th &13th at AMHC 127 Palmer Street, Calais (download flyer). This four-day training will meet 9-5 each day. Participants will be expected to complete an additional hour of independent study daily to complete the training program.
Your announcement could go here: email the details to Christine by 5 pm Monday for inclusion in Wednesday’s Weekly Communiqué.
Events
Addressing Long Wait times for Children’s Services: Save the date of May 5th for a follow-up meeting of Washington Co providers with Children’s Behavioral Health Services on how to meet the needs of children waiting for HCT & RCS services. This brainstorming brown bag lunch will take place in the large conference room at SCEC (7 Ames Way, Machias) from 11 am to 1 pm. CCC will provide dessert and beverages. Please RSVP to Cheryl.
Data Demystified: The University of Southern Maine’s Data Innovation Project invites you to their inaugural Data Summit on May 15th at the Wells Conference Center, UM Orono. Download the flyer for more information.
Avoiding Provider Burnout: The Washington County Resiliency Team invites all medical, mental health, substance use, social service, legal, economic and other service providers to a brown bag lunch on Self-Care & Avoiding Provider Burnout on May 3rd from 11:30 am to 1 pm at a location in Machias tba. This is not your ordinary brown bag lunch – download the flyer for all the fun details and circulate to your colleagues. We are asking people to RSVP to Christine by April 28th.
Family Friday Funday in Milbridge: Family Friday Funday is a monthly get together at the Women’s 
Health Resource Library to do something fun with your children, open to all parents/caregivers with children age 4 and under. Each month will have a different focus – art, music, nature, gardening – led by Alahna Roach, mom, art therapist, and art teacher. Read the flyer to learn more.
Caregivers Conference: The Washington County Thriving in Place Initiative invites all family and informal providers of care for elders and the chronically ill to a free conference designed just for them on April 28th from 8:30 am — 3:45 pm at Washington County Community College. Download a flyer to post in your office. Speaker information and registration form here.
Maine Association for Infant Mental Health: Registration is open for the 30th annual MeAIMH conference on May 12th at the Hilton Garden Inn Freeport Downtown, Freeport, ME, featuring Stephan A. Viehweg presenting Tackling the Tough Stuff: Supporting Families at Risk. Read more about this exciting conference “not just for home visitors” here.
2-day Teacher Training: Learn to teach NAMI Basics, a 6-session educational program for parents and caregivers of children and adolescents under the age of 18 experiencing emerging emotional and behavioral concerns. It covers information about mental health challenges, the fundamentals of advocating for your child, self-care, communication and problem solving skills and much more! This 2-day training will be held at a location tba on April 22-23, 2017. More information and registration available here.
Bridges Out of Poverty Webinar: one-hour webinar, “Bridges Out of Poverty,” uses the lens of economic class to provide concrete tools and strategies for individuals, organizations, and communities to alleviate poverty.This webinar will provide an introduction to a comprehensive approach to understanding the Bridges Out of Poverty constructs. Thursday, June 1, 2017, 11:00am-12:00pm CDT (not Eastern time). Register here
Needs & Offers
Job Opening for Cook & Kitchen Asst: The Cobscook Community Learning Center is looking for an 
experienced cook and a kitchen assistant for the upcoming season. The cook and kitchen assistant will work with the Lead Cook to provide catering services to groups staying at CCLC’s Heartwood Lodge. Both positions will have a minimum of 30 hours a week. For more information please contact Avery Danforth at 733-2233, or at avery@thecclc.org.
Job Opening for Elder Services Navigator: WHCA is seeking to hire a part time Elder Services Navigator to assist elders, caregivers, and providers as they navigate and secure services. Qualifications include familiarity with the people and geography of Washington County, excellent organizational skills and and a passion for helping people. Occasional travel to Ellsworth will be required. Interested candidates should send a resume and application (available at www.whcacap.org) to HR Director, WHCA, 248 Bucksport Rd., Ellsworth, Maine 04605. A review of applications will begin on April 3, 2017.
DV Survey Respondents Needed: Heather Biggar, Outreach Manager for Maine Behavioral Healthcare, is requesting help to better identify and understand the needs of children and families exposed to domestic violence. If you are a provider in Washington county, this survey is designed to help Maine Behavioral Healthcare and the WC domestic violence resource center understand your perspectives about what your community is doing well on behalf of children and families exposed to DV, and what needs to be improved. Your feedback is vital to this effort. Thank you for taking 10 minutes of your time to share your viewpoint. The survey link will close this Friday, March 31st. If you know another provider who has valuable information to contribute, please feel free to share the survey link.
NYU Dental Clinic: Save the dates of April 3-7 for the free dental outreach program of the Washington County Children’s Program and Sunrise Opportunities partnering with New York University’s School of Dentistry. Patients will not be charged a fee for services but will be asked for MaineCare/insurance information. Download the flyer for more information.
Updates
Unstable Housing Survey: Outreach is continuing, and we have Ruth Leubecker to thank for her article about the survey in the Machias Valley News Observer. We plan to follow up with small display ads in Newspapers across the County to keep drawing people’s attention to this user friendly online tool, designed by CCC Work Group & Poverty Busters to capture data on individuals & families in unstable housing situations. We have reached out to Washington County libraries to help direct people to the survey, which is set up for people to self-report as well as for service providers/teachers/friends to enter data about a client/student or friend. The survey questions are available as a printable document for people to use on home visits or in other situations away from a phone or computer, but the responses must be uploaded later into the online form. Please share the link and the paper form to help us paint a more accurate picture of homelessness in Washington County. You can always access both the paper and online versions on the homepage of our website – just scroll down to the lower left feature box.
ECCO: The CCC has been involved in and supportive of the work of the Maine Social and Emotional Learning & Development Project over the last several years, whose topmost policy recommendation is the creation of a statewide mental health consultation model. The CCC’s Early Childhood Consultation and Outreach Program (ECCO) was highlighted in the final report of that group published last fall as one of only three models for consideration. Legislation is expected to be introduced in the coming months. Stay tuned for updates on this exciting development in early childhood programming in Maine.
Meetings
Work Group & Poverty Busters: Download minutes from the March 1st meeting. Join the CCC Work Group and Poverty Busters on April 5th at SCEC’s building in Machias at 7 Ames Way (next door to the Grange) from 1-3:30 pm. Download an agenda for this meeting. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
St Croix Community Connections: This is Poverty Buster’s sister group in Calais, organized by Christine Morris. This group meets monthly on the 4th Tuesday from 3-5 pm. New members welcome!
