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: Supermoon in New Harbor, Maine. Photo @SHERRIETUCKER Twitter

Announcements

Congratulations to Cathy Faulkingham: Cathy has been selected as one of the awardees of this year’s Marcia Lovell Award for Innovation in Early Care and Education, created by the Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network to recognize outstanding early childhood professionals who make significant contributions to the children, families, and communities in which they work and embody the ideals for which Marcia advocated. Congratulations Cathy! To read more about this award, visit Pathways, the Maine Roads to Quality Newsletter.

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 with your staff and colleagues who work with families.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hope Fund Update: Hope Fund Committee Members met with providers who work on applications with families for a conversation about the Hope Fund application process in October. The group reviewed the 2017 application, made a couple of minor revisions, discussed how the fund was designed to help families, and clarified a few gray areas. The result was a list of frequently asked questions which we have added to our FAQs on the CCC’s website and made available on the website’s Hope Fund page.

Events (Chronologically Listed)

Fedcap Open House: you are invited to the Open House & Ribbon Cutting ceremony of Fedcap’s new Machias office at 89 Court Street (inside the Post Office Building) tomorrow, December 7th, from 3-6 pm. See flyer for details.

When Grief is Complicated: Down East Hospice Volunteers will be presenting Hospice Foundation of America’s, The 24th Annual Living with Grief, Conference Series: “When Grief is Complicated,” December 14, 2017 at Down East Community Hospital’s Conference Room from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. See flyer for details. Please share this with your employees who would benefit from this program, particularly those who may be in need of CEU’s as this program provides 2.5 CEU’s for those who complete the discussion after the program.

Substance Use Training for Businesses: Following up on requests made at the Summer Addiction, Recovery & the Work Force Summit, Sunrise County Economic Council is hosting an important training for business owners and HR personnel on December 12th from 9 am to Noon at their offices at 7 Ames Way in Machias, What Employers Need to Know: Substance Use Issues 101. 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.

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 Thoyalil at 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.

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.

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

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.

Job Offer: The Health Equity Alliance has an opening for a full-time Washington County HIV Case Manager. See full job description with information on salary, generous benefits package, and how to apply here.

Passages Giving Tree: The Washington County Passages program is collecting gifts for their 14 children to be distributed at their yearly holiday party on December 14. The Giving Tree – location of this celebration – will be in the Merrill Library at UMM. Each card on the tree notes the age and gender of one of our student’s children. If you’d like to donate a gift, please choose a card and drop off the wrapped, labeled gift by Monday, December 11th. Please keep the gift to a maximum of $20. Thanks in advance for your generosity! For more information, contact Fern at 542-8144 or 255-1468. The Giving Tree is Sponsored by Psychology & Community Studies and Merrill Library at UMM.

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.

Meetings

Work Group & Poverty Busters: Next meeting is today, December 6th, from 1 — 3:30 in the large conference room at SCEC. Read the Agenda for this meeting here.

St Croix Community Connections: This is Poverty Buster’s sister group in Calais, organized by Christine Morris. This group meets monthly – new members welcome!

Photo courtesy of Allison V Smith

CCC Wednesday Communique – December 6, 2017