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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
One-Bedroom Apartment Needed: Next Step is looking for one-bedroom apartments in the Machias area. Please contact the Machias center if you have any leads at 255-4934.
Updates
Thriving in Place: Last week, Sen. Roger Katz presented LD 832, a bill requiring state officials to release up to $15 million in voter approved bonds for senior housing projects across Maine. Rep. Will Tuell testified in support of the measure, arguing that while he wasn’t originally on board with the proposal, provisions were put in to make sure that rural parts of the state like Washington County weren’t left behind. WHCA’s Executive Director, Mark Green, spoke in favor of the bill saying: “The $15 million senior affordable housing bond that would be released by this bill will help seniors by building approximately 225 affordable homes and assisting an additional 100 low-income seniors to make repairs to their homes, repairs that can allow them to safely age in place.” Mark added that the bond “also includes a small amount of funding for home repair to help keep seniors in their homes. At WHCA we have 90 seniors on the wait list for home repair. These repairs range from small projects such as ramps to larger projects including roofs and plumbing repairs,” (exerpted in part from Will Tuell’s Weekly Update). We will keep you posted on the progress of this exciting bill.
Meetings
Work Group & Poverty Busters: Read minutes from last week’s 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).
St Croix Community Connections: Read minutes from SCCC’s Meeting on March 28th. In an effort to increase the representation of this group we are trying something new! Our meeting this month will be on Wednesday, April 26th, from 11-1 at WCCC in Calais. We are encouraging members 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! If you plan on joining us please RSVP to me by Tuesday the 25th.
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Peters