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: Jenny Koontz, left, and Jordan McHugh, right, plant a tree as part of Earth Day festivities at the Maine Heritage Orchard at the MOFGA grounds in Unity on Saturday. — Staff photo by Michael G. Seamanst
Announcements
Machias Job Fair: The Machias Career Center is holding a job fair on May 4th from 10 am to 1 pm. Check here to see their impressive list of participating employers.
Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week: read this flyer to learn how G.E.A.R. Parent Network, Maine’s National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, is celebrating Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week.
Family Friday Funday in Milbridge: Maine Families invites you to Family Friday Funda
y Friday, April 28th, from 3-4:30 pm at the Women’s Health Resource Library in Milbridge. This month’s theme is Music with a special guest. Open to all parents/caregivers with children age 4 and under. Contact 255-0481 for more information.
MEOC Open House: The Maine Educational Opportunity Center invites you to an open house on April 27th from 11 am to 1 pm at the Machias Career Center. Help celebrate 25 years of outreach supporting First Generation Low Income College Students in Maine achieve their dream. See flyer for more details.
Hope Fund Closing for Season: All the funds for this year have been awarded and the Hope Fund Committee is no longer accepting applications. More than 80 families have been helped since the Hope Fund opened last fall and work is in progress to replenish the fund for next season. Thanks go to each committee member and all the providers who worked so hard helping families apply – you are the reason this program works so well!
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.
Your announcement could go here: email the details to Christine by 5 pm Monday for inclusion in Wednesday’s Weekly Communiqué.
Events
Now listed chronologically, so make sure to scroll down for items just added!
LUNAFEST® at the Grand: Next Step is hosting a screening of LUNAFEST®, the fundraising film festival dedicated to promoting awareness about women’s issues, highlighting women filmmakers, and bringing women together in their communities, next Thursday, April 27th, from 7-9 pm at the Grand in Ellsworth. Tickets are $15 – all proceeds from LUNAFEST will benefit Next Step and the Breast Cancer Fund. Contact for more information either Dorathy Martel, Next Step Executive Director (207-667-0176) or Meaghan Praznik, PR Coordinator, LUNA (510-596-6592).
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 the Kay Parker building in Machias. 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.
Hospice Volunteer Training: Down East Hospice is holding a training for volunteers at Down East Community Hospital from 9-3 over 5 days (May 3, 5, 8, 11 & 17). Pre-interview required. Contact Barbara Barnett at 726-5087 or the Down East Hospice office (email or call 454-7521 ext 126) for more information.
Addressing Long Wait times for Children’s Services: download the agenda for the May 5th 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.
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.
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.
Toxic Chemicals and Our Children’s Developing Brains: G.E.A.R. workshop on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, from 9-11 a.m. at Downeast Horizons, 77 Union St, Ellsworth, hosted by Cynthia Cullinane, Regional Parent Support Coordinator. Read about this and other G.E.A.R. spring workshops in this flyer.
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.
LGBTQ Health Conference: Save the date of June 16th in Portland, ME, for the 2017 LGBTQ+ Health Conference on the theme of Trauma and Resiliency with keynote speaker, Sandy James, Survey Project Manager of the National Center for Transgender Equality. Conference information at Health Equity Alliance.
Needs & Offers
Shine a Light: Next Step Domestic Violence Project invites you to participate in our first annual Shine a Light Campaign. We are seeking sponsorships for purple lights, each of which will shine in support of a person who has used Next Step’s services. Read more about this client-focused campaign here, where you can also sign up to be a sponsor.
Volunteer Drivers Needed: WHCA is looking for volunteer drivers. Benefits include flexible hours, reimbursement at 44 cents a mile, AAA Plus at no coast to you. Volunteers must be at least 25 years old, have a valid, clean Maine driver’s license for 3 years, have a reliable, clean vehicle, and live in Hancock or Washington County. Call or email Joceyln Storey, WHCA’s Volunteer Coordinator, at 207-610-5940 or jstorey@whcacap.org, M-F, 8-5 pm.
Updates
Early Childhood: CCC Council member Janet Weston forwarded information about the LIFT Bill – LD 1475 to Reduce Child Poverty and Dependence, drafted by Maine Equal Justice and sponsored by Speaker of the House, Sara Gideon. Read more about this bill.
FFD: Charley Martin-Berry took this photo of FFD Director Marsha Sloan and FFD student Betty Slicer in sunny, downtown Tulsa, OK, representing Family Futures Downeast at the Aspen 2Gen Practice Institute hosted by CAP Tulsa, along with almost 200 other practitioners, researchers, and philanthropists. Charley and Marsha will be presenting on family engagement, and Betty and Charley are panelists on The Family Soundtrack — Using Family Perspectives and Expertise to Inform Continuous Improvement.
TiP: We have news on the progress of LD 832 – An Act To Carry Out the Will of the People of the State of Maine by Ensuring the Issuance of Bonds To Support the Independence of Maine’s Seniors. This is the bill that would direct the state to release up to $15 million in voter approved bonds for senior housing projects across Maine. The Senate passed this bill last Friday and it will be voted on by the House Thursday. We will keep you posted on developments with LD 832.
Meetings
Work Group & Poverty Busters: Read minutes from the April 5th meeting. Next meeting will be on May 3rd at the Kay Parker Building – not 7 Ames Way — from 1-3:30 pm, immediately after the brown bag lunch on Avoiding Provider Burnout (read about this under Events). Download meeting agenda. Guest speaker is Shannon Emery from Fedcap – you won’t want to miss this! RSVP here.
St Croix Community Connections: Read minutes from SCCC’s Meeting on March 28th. In an effort to increase the representation of this group SCCC organizer Christine Morris is trying something new! The meeting this month will be on Wednesday, April 26th, from 11-1 at WCCC in Calais. Members are encouraged to personally invite a community member(s) that you feel would be interested in providing perspective, community engagement, and collaboration. This meeting will be a potluck lunch as well so we invite you to bring your favorite dish to share!
NASA’s satellite image of Acadia highlights how the park could be vulnerable to sea level rise. It’s not just a silent spring in Acadia to worry about. (NPS image)