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: Maine Families’ entry in Down East Community Hospital’s Holiday Wreath Contest, featuring ornaments created by Susan Bennett

Announcements

Substance Use Issues 101 Rescheduled: The training for business owners and HR personnel on December 12th, What Employers Need to Know: Substance Use Issues 101, was cancelled due to weather concerns and has been rescheduled to January 10, 2018 from 9 am to Noon at the same location, Sunrise County Economic Council’s office at 7 Ames Way in Machias, This free training presented by Marjorie F. Withers, LCPC, will lay the foundation for understanding substances and their impact on employees, and how to support them in recovery. To register, email Amy or call 255-0983. This event is made possible by funding from the H. King and Jean Cummings Charitable Fund of the Maine Community Foundation.

Breast Cancer Support Group: The Calais area Breast Cancer Support Group is resuming under the leadership of Marianne Moore, Patient Navigator with Healthy Acadia. The first “gathering” is this Friday, December 15th, at 3 PM. The group will be meeting in the downstairs parlor at the Calais United Methodist Church. Download this flyer for more information.

Reframing Aging: Frameworks 2.0: The Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging is sponsoring a webinar on how to talk about aging, demographic change, and elder abuse in ways that foster greater public understanding of these issues. Led by Frameworks Institute, this webinar is scheduled for December 19th from Noon to 1:30 pm. Register here.

Youth Progression Pilot Program: NAMI Maine is offering six 2-hour interactive
classes as part of a pilot program for young people with emerging mental health concerns in Washington County. Download a flyer for more information.

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.

December 2017 Holiday Letter: to you, our CCC partners, providers and friends, from Charley Martin-Berry.

Events (Chronologically Listed)

Invest in Tomorrow – Solving Child Poverty is Everyone’s Business: you are invited to join a discussion on this very topic on December 18th from 2-4 pm at the Kay Parker Building in Machias, hosted by Maine Equal Justice Partners, following up the earlier forum in Milbridge last spring. Please share this flyer. This will be an opportunity to discuss what solutions could be put in place, what we’ve learned since the spring forum, and consider what our collective next steps should be. Please contact Joby Thoyalilat MEJP with any questions.

Drug-Free Workplace Discussion: Also following up on requests made at the Summer Addiction, Recovery & the Work Force Summit, Sunrise County Economic Council is hosting a free event on December 19th from 9 am to Noon at their offices at 7 Ames Way in Machias – Establishing a Drug-Free Workplace and Drug Testing Policies in Maine, presented by Amanda O’Leary, Bureau of Labor Standards. The format for this will be a discussion on how to develop these policies, the rules and requirements under Maine law, and how the new legalization of Cannabis may affect those policies. To register, email Amy or call 255-0983. This event is made possible by funding from the Bureau of Labor Standards and Washington County CareerCenters.

Trauma Awareness & Resilience Institute for Youth Workers: Maine Behavioral Healthcare partnering with TREE/CCLC invite you to attend a free two-day training institute for youth workers to increase capacity for working with youth exposed to violence and trauma – January 8-9 at the Cobscook Community Learning Center (CCLC). See flyer for details. Please contact Brittany Ray for information about overnight accommodations at the CCLC’s beautiful Heartwood Lodge.

Changes to Maine’s Safety Net: Service providers in Washington County are invited to sign up for a free training on January 9, 2018 on Changes to Maine’s Safety Net: Understanding & Accessing TANF, SNAP and MaineCare. Maine Equal Justice Partners, the Maine DHHS Office of Family Independence, Fedcap and Passamaquoddy partners will share what you need to know about changes made to these programs that may benefit clients and the families you work with. Special attention will be give to how families can access these programs in Washington County. This training will be held in the Assembly Room at Washington County Community College in Calais, from 9 am to 12 Noon. Register here. The deadline to register is Noon on January 2nd, so don’t delay. Please share this flyer with your staff and colleagues who work with families.

Families & Youth in Transitions Conference: Save the date of March 10, 2018 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at Maine General Hospital in Augusta for Families & Youth in Transitions – a conference for families and youth with emotional and behavioral needs, special needs, and special health care needs transitioning through high school to adult life. Youth and parent workshops will be offered. Keynote speaker tba. Sponsored by the Maine Parent Federation and G.E.A.R. Parent Network.

Youth Mental Health First Aid Training: Save the date of April 12, 2018 for NAMI Maine’s Youth Mental Health First Aid Training at the Cherryfield Academy Community Center. Details about this event are here. You can also Download general information about Youth Mental Health First Aid Trainings.

Elder Abuse Summit: Save the date of May 10th for the 5th annual conference on Elder Abuse, hosted by the Maine Council for Elder Abuse Prevention at the Augusta Civic Center. See flyer for details or visit MCEAP’s website.

Needs & Offers

Juicer Needed: Do you have a juicer gathering dust in a cupboard? If so, we know of someone seeking a gently used juicer for a specific dietary protocol. Please contact the CCC if you would like to donate this item.

Development and Communications Intern: Healthy Acadia seeks a Development and Communications Intern to start in January 2018 for a 10 hour/week three-month internship. Read the full description of this internship position and please share with anyone you know who may be interested.

Axiom Ed – 2 positions offered: Axiom Education & Training Center is recruiting for 2 positions in their adult ed program – see these job descriptions for details: AETC instructor position; and Indian Township instructor position.

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.

Circle of Care: A Guidebook for Mental Health Caregivers, published by the National Alliance for Caregiving, is designed to guide unpaid friends, family, and neighbors who care for someone with a mental health condition. The Guidebook emerged from On Pins and Needles: Caregivers of Adults with Mental Illness, a national study on mental health caregiving conducted with the assistance of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America and released in February 2016. The fact sheets in Circle of Care are intended to assist informal caregivers with finding help for the specific challenges identified in the On Pins and Needles study.

Meetings

Work Group & Poverty Busters: As promised at last week’s Work Group/Poverty Buster’s meeting, here is a form you can print to bring to home visits to find out what training topics parents might want for the family event we are planning in April. You can bring filled in forms to future WG/PB meetings, drop them off any time at the CCC office (front desk) or scan them to Christine. Next meeting is January 3, 2018, from 1 — 3:30 in the large conference room at SCEC.

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 – December 13, 2017