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: Help design the CCC’s basic caregiving skills training by taking this short survey for caregivers – read more about this in the announcements below.

Announcements

Did you lose any of your food due to a power outage? If you get SNAP and lost food because you lost power, there’s help available. You can get replacement Food Supplement benefits if you have a “household misfortune.” A federal or state disaster declaration is not required. Household misfortune includes losing food from your home if: a local or neighborhood power outage lasts 4 hours or more, or a fire, flood, or storm causes damage. Report the loss of food to DHHS at 1-855-797-4357 within 10 days of the end of the outage. You will be sent a form to fill out and return to DHHS. The sooner you get DHHS this form, the faster you will get your replacement benefits.

CRH and DECH Partnering to Bring OB/GYN Care to Calais: Calais Regional Hospital and Down East Community Hospital are excited to announce that DECH providers Kara Dwight, MD and Christian Inegbenijie, MD will provide office visits in Calais one day a week once clinic licensure is obtained. Read the full press release here.

Housing as Community Development: Join speakers Deb Keller, Executive Director of the Bath Housing Authority, Rebecca Dillon from Gawron Turgeon Architects, and Reverend Fowler, Executive Director of Cass Community Services in Detroit for this rescheduled webinar on November 17th from 12 pm to 1:30 pm. Register here.

Online Family Caregiving Fair: If you’re one of over 40 million adults in the U.S. who provide unpaid care to a loved one, the AARP Online Family Caregiving Fair can help you make the most of your caregiving journey. You’ll find valuable resources, real life tips and support to help you care for your loved one. Keynote Speaker: Richard Lui, MSNBC journalist and anchor. Register for this event on November 16th from 6-9 pm.

TSLCA Summit: registration is now open for the Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging Summit – Driving Community Home! The Summit will be held on November 28, 2017 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland, Maine from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and is designed specifically for community and municipal leaders, service and health providers, advocates and researchers who are engaged (or plan to be) in the “aging in community” movement in Northern New England.

Basic Skills for Caregivers: The Washington County Thriving in Place Initiative is developing a training in response to requests for help with basic caregiving skills, such as how to move an injured or frail person. Pamela Grant, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) who works at Down East Community Hospital, has agreed to present this training and is willing to design the content around topics of particular concern to family/informal caregivers. The CCC has developed a short survey for caregivers to provide information to Pam on what they really need to learn. The survey also asks caregivers what time of day or day of the week such a training would work best. Please forward this survey link to anyone you know who is providing care to a family member or friend.

WCCOG Annual General Meeting:The Washington County Council of Governments invites you to their annual meeting on “Bright Lights in Washington County.” We will hear about local food successes, fisheries restoration, site redevelopment through the Brownfields program and the momentum of the Bold Coast Scenic Bikeway, all on November 14th at Machias Savings Bank Community Room in Machias, from 5:30-8:00 pm. RSVP appreciated by November 9th at this registration website.

Your announcement could go here: email the details to Christine by 5 pm Monday for inclusion in Wednesday’s Weekly Communiqué.

Updates

This is where we post updates on programs, initiatives and pending legislation.

Extended Brown Bag Lunch on Sharing Local Resources: 30 local providers gathered together last Wednesday at the Kay Parker Building of Sunrise Opportunities to review and update their repertoire of resources for Washington County residents. Notes from the discussion and breakout sessions will be published here, along with a pdf combing many of the handouts from providers.

Photo courtesy of Susan Bennett

Events

Now listed chronologically, so make sure to scroll down for items just added!

TCM & BHH Provider Training: Child Behavioral Health Services invites targeted case managers and behavioral health homes providers to a free system overview of the state’s behavioral health services on December 4th, from 9-4 at the Houlton DHHS Office. See flyer for details.

Needs & Offers

Mentor/Neighbor Program Update: Mentor/Neighbor program designers need your help sharing the link to a survey they are building together with students from the UMM Research Methods class to ascertain what volunteer mentors can offer and what they need to be able to make that offer. Do you know any potential volunteer mentors? Can you think of any networks or listservs they may be a part of? Please send us the contact information for individuals or email groups/networks you think would include potential volunteer mentors – thanks for your help!

Needle Exchange in Machias: The Health Equity Alliance (HEAL), formerly Down East AIDS Network (DEAN), maintains a needle exchange at their local office on Tuesdays 3-6 and Fridays 10-1. HEAL also provides training along with naloxone and sponsors the annual Maine Harm Reduction conference. FMI: Katie Bragg, Case Manager/ Health Promotion Specialist, katie@mainehealthequity.org, 255-5849, 7 VIP Road, Machias, ME 04654, in the same building as Downeast Community Partners, or visit their website.

Legislation Survey: Maine Equal Justice Partners invites you to fill out a policy survey to help them assess how effective the legislative changes that did pass will be when it comes to reducing child poverty in Maine and to help them focus their energy in the years ahead on changes that will make the biggest difference in families’ lives.

Send us your agency/community needs or offers, such as job recruiting or housing needs.

Favorite Resources

Send us your favorite links to share with other Communique readers.

ACAP Pathfinder: The Aroostook County Action Program has an amazingly organized and comprehensive resource guide “for All Generations” called “Pathfinder.” This is both a printed, spiral bound book and an online pdf with a table of contents, emergency phone numbers, an index, glossary, and pages of information on services and programs available to Aroostook Co residents (some of which are also available to Washington Co residents). Resources are listed by topic, such as “Legal,” “Medical – clinics,” and Medical – Complementary Therapies,” making it easy to search for what you need. Access the online pdf here.

Meetings

Work Group & Poverty Busters: Next meeting is on December 6th from 1 — 3:30 in the large conference room at SCEC – RSVP to Christine 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 – new members welcome!

CCC Wednesday Communique – November 8, 2017