(Jessica McPhail, Ashley Yardley, Magen Harnois, and Tammy Downs) Parent Panel at CCC’s Understanding the Principles & Promise of Two-Gen Approaches held last Friday at UMM.  Learn more about this training in the Updates section below.

The Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging has changed it’s venue for the May 1st Inclusion Summit in Concord, NH to a virtual program on Zoom.  Many potential speakers and participants across Northern New England shared that travel was a barrier. We listened! This virtual format removes the travel burden, allowing for wider participation from our colleagues and network. This shift ensures a more accessible summit, staying true to its core purpose of inclusion.  Our team’s priority is to offer a high-quality, meaningful and accessible program for our extensive and diverse network across Northern New England. To make this program as accessible as possible – we’ve made these updates:

Learn more and register here.

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Legal Services for Maine Elders (f/k/a/ Legal Services for the Elderly) invites you to their 50th anniversary celebration at Wolfe’s Neck Center, Freeport, ME, from 5 – 7 pm on June 21st.  Please RSVP here or call 207-621-0087.

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July 31–August 1, Long Beach, CA.  ZERO to THREE invites you to LEARN Conference 2024.  Check out what’s in store for this year’s agenda — from thought-provoking Breakout Sessions to inspirational Baby Talks to deep-diving Issue Intensives.  Here’s a sneak peek at some of our exciting sessions:

Save up to $250 with an early bird discount.  Register here.

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The Maine DHHS Office for Family Independence (OFI) wants to remind you about our quarterly webinar series about the fundamentals of the programs we administer, including MaineCare, SNAP, and TANF. Registration is now open for our next session on April 19th! Sign up now!  The OFI 101: MaineCare, SNAP, TANF, and more! free webinar is a regular opportunity for case managers, social workers, and other social service providers to get insight into OFI benefit programs and processes. The goal is to improve access to necessary benefits like SNAP food assistance, MaineCare medical insurance, and TANF cash assistance for families, by helping our community partners understand and navigate the system more effectively on behalf of our mutual clients.  Webinars will be hosted on Microsoft Teams. Use this link to register for the April 19th webinar. Future dates will be posted soon.  More information on registering can be found here.

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Friday, May 3rd, 8 — 9 am online.  Are you involved in a start-up or an ongoing wellness-related business?  Massage, therapy, yoga, mindfulness, doula or other wellness related practice?  Even if you are engaged in another service oriented business and want to care for YOURSELF – join us!  Come share your experience or learn from others about the particular rewards and challenges associated with providing wellness services to others.  How do you care for your clients, yourself, your BUSINESS?  Join us to listen and learn in this safe forum for conversation! This is an informal and confidential gathering where we exchange ideas and share insights.  Register Today! Invite a friend!

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1. Downeast Rainbow Alliance Meetings:  On the second Monday of every month (except July, August, December, January) at 6:15pm, the Downeast Rainbow Alliance ( a coalition of young adults, healthcare workers, educators, organizers, LGBTQ+ community members and allies) holds a hybrid meeting where we talk about the needs of Washington County, fundraising, and community building. You can join via Zoom or share space with us at Cobscook Institute. To get the Zoom link and agenda, email downeastrainbowalliance@gmail.com.
2. Game Nights at Cobscook Institute: Join the Downeast Rainbow Alliance on the first Friday of each month from October-May, at 5pm-8pm for table top games and food provided by donation in the Cobscook institute Commons.
3. The Traveling Rainbow Project: The Traveling Rainbow Project works to improve mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ Teens in Passamaquoddy Homeland/Eastern Maine. We do this by improving Allyship community wide, as well as providing direct support to teens. Close to 30% of Maine High School Students identify as LGBTQ+ or Questioning; these teens are 3-4 times as likely to consider suicide as their heterosexual identifying peers. The Traveling Rainbow Project looks to address this public health crisis by supporting administrations, teens and organizations in stepping up to the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ Support Systems in a Rural Community. Also we are grant funded and do this at no cost to our clients.
4. Free Rainbow 101 Trainings: The Downeast Rainbow Alliance is offering FREE LGBTQ+ training sessions for schools and organizations. We will help you understand terminology and how to talk about topics relating to the LGBTQ+ Community, and understand the mental health impacts to LGBTQ+ youth in our communities. To schedule a training, contact downeasteastrainbowalliance@gmail.com.

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If you are a professional serving young children or out-of-school time kids, MRTQ is VERY interested in your perspectives on professional development needs. We greatly appreciate your taking the time to complete this survey: 2024 Professional Development Needs Assessment

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Maine Public Health Association is pleased to announce this year’s Public Health Award winners! We hope you will join us on Thursday, June 6th from 4:30 to 7 pm at Maple Hill Farm in Hallowell to celebrate their achievements and contributions to public health!  Awards Ceremony tickets are $35, and include dinner/non-alcoholic beverages. There will be a cash bar. Registration is required. If this ticket price is prohibitive, please let us know.  Learn more here.