Member spotlight: Viles Arboretum

Member spotlight: Viles Arboretum

Have you explored Viles Arboretum in Augusta lately?  If you have never been, have not been recently (or even if you have!), it’s time to add this destination to your must-visit list.  Viles Arboretum, a MaineShare member group, is a free botanical garden in Maine’s capital city. The beautiful site provides visitors with six miles of varied trails, recreational access, event space rentals, a visitor’s center with educational exhibits, and a multitude of events and activities. Recent events have included nature walks, basket making, foraging, and more.  Viles is dedicated to environmental education, making outdoor recreation accessible, and fostering an appreciation for nature. In the summer, the grounds are full of local youth participating in their summer camps. (110 kids this year!) In the winter, the trails are available for seasonal sports such as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. And recently, Viles Arboretum unveiled a StoryWalk as part of its trails.

The Viles StoryWalk is a project aimed at local children, and came together through a partnership with Healthy Communities for the Capitol Area. This walk features 18 stations and the stories will rotate, featuring stories by Maine authors as well as stories focused on healthy habits. The StoryWalk is the first of other planned interactive spaces at the Arboretum, and Viles Executive Director Ryan Martin explained that “the StoryWalk® will serve as a gateway to imagination, sparking joy, and curiosity in the hearts of children as they explore the Arboretum.”  Other projects in the works at Viles include a new community agriculture initiative serving food insecure families, innovative climate change research and education, and so much more. Learn more about everything going on here, and make a point to visit Viles Arboretum!

Coming Together: MaineShare’s June Newsletter

Coming Together: MaineShare’s June Newsletter

This month, we were thrilled to come together in person with our groups to reflect, share, and celebrate. It was such a pleasure to have this time with our MaineShare community, to catch up and look forward. Please read on for reflections shared by our groups during our gathering, great photos from the event, and more about recent news and events. Read on here!

Member Spotlight: Maine Resource Recovery Association

Member Spotlight: Maine Resource Recovery Association

Do you know who the Maine Resource Recovery Association is? Do you know what they do? Well, now is the time to find out!

The Maine Resource Recovery Association (MRRA) is extremely important to environmental sustainability in the state of Maine.  They are key to linking businesses and municipalities to solutions for recycling, composting, and other responsible waste management systems.  The mission of MRRA is “to assist the Maine community with implementing professional solid waste management systems that are environmentally and economically sustainable.” And as I learned last month, MRRA has a lot of fun while they provide these invaluable resources and services to our community!

Last month, at Sunday River in Newry, ME, MRRA held its 28th annual (!!) Recycling and Solid Waste Conference and Trade Show.  This event brought together staff and leaders in the solid waste and recycling industry from across the state.  The conference featured keynote speakers from experts in the field, up-to-date information from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and breakout sessions on topics such as: grants and funding; SafetyWorks training; composting; the Maine Bottle Bill; nationwide industry trends; zero waste solutions; PFAS challenges; and legislation and advocacy.  The conference also included an awards event to celebrate volunteers, service, and top programs in the field, entertainment for attendees, and even the ever-popular belt sander races!   (I was so intrigued by the belt sander races, and encourage you to take a peek at this fun challenge via this video recording!)  I truly enjoyed meeting the attendees at this conference, and witnessing the commitment to making Maine a more environmentally friendly place for us all.

Some of the other resources that MRRA provides to the public include backyard composting supplies, rain barrels, and recycling carts and containers. They often hold tours of recycling facilities across the state for those in the industry.  Their membership options provide valuable perks to businesses and individuals, including wholesale prices on sustainability products, education and outreach, consulting and waste audits, cooperative material marketing services, and more.  For more information on all the great things going on at Maine Resource Recovery Association, visit them at https://mrra.net/!

Photo Credit: Fred J. Field

Get outside and learn!

Get outside and learn!

There is one (of many) takeaways I gleaned from recent learning experiences that I wanted to share– Maurice Mitchell, GEO Plenary speaker, spoke about the importance of framing our work in joy and possibility. I see those tenets in the work of MaineShare and our members, and am committed to upholding those values.

Whether you prefer to learn via attending events, virtual webinars, reading articles, or just being in the presence of someone with different life experiences, learning nourishes us and sparks curiosity. It can be a motivator, provide a different lens to see the world, or even reinforce the path you have chosen. I encourage you all to seek opportunities to continue learning, and an easy way to start is to read on for news and updates from our member groups.

Read on here!

Recommitting and Awakening this Spring

Recommitting and Awakening this Spring

As the ground thaws, flowers emerge, birds rejoin us to wake with the sun, and the other signs of spring greet us, it indeed feels like the oft quoted time of awakening.  I also feel the reawakening of community and take such joy in being in space together.  As we come back to life after a season of dark and cold and join in gathering, it provides a valuable opportunity to recommit to our values within our communities.  Recommit to supporting the amazing organizations in our state who show us the way toward real, sustainable change for good.  Read on here!

Member Spotlight: ProsperityME

Since its founding in 2008, ProsperityME has been dedicated to helping New Mainers- immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers- build rewarding lives in their new communities.  With the proper resources and support through the transition to a new homeland, our new neighbors can thrive.  Systemic and policy failures and lack of state resources can impede successful transitions, however.  Currently, one of the major challenges to this population is the housing crisis, and ProsperityME has become a first responder to this crisis.

The primary factor of instability in the New Mainer population is housing instability.  One pressing and urgent concern is that for those families currently sheltered in local hotels, this option ends at the end of April, with no solutions or answer as to where to go next.  ProsperityME has been working day and night to find alternative housing options for these families where they can find shelter and safety.  One of the ways they help is the Housing Navigator Service, a partnership with several organizations in Maine.  

Housing Navigators provide culturally-appropriate counseling to individuals and families to assist them in finding permanent and stable housing, facilitating relationships with landlords, and educating them about tenant rights. They also refer clients to appropriate community and state housing resources and assist them in completing the rental process.  Through this service, ProsperityME has helped over 100 families this year in their housing service and helped find stable housing for over 30 individuals.  For more information on which organizations provide this service in different Maine counties, please visit: https://www.mainehousing.org/programs-services/rental/rentaldetail/housing-navigator-pilot-program.  

Another program of ProsperityME that has been greatly helping our neighbors is the Peer Workforce Navigator Project.  This program is a coalition 5 Maine non-profit organizations and the Maine Department of Labor.  The Peer Workforce Navigator program at ProsperityME helps those who are experiencing unemployment by providing career search resources, educational opportunities, and facilitating meetings with potential new employers.  They also assist clients with securing unemployment insurance, healthcare, and training as needed.  ProsperityME has been holding weekly clinics in-house on Fridays to offer these services, which have been particularly beneficial for the many New Mainers who were recently impacted by major layoffs at Abbott Laboratories.   

ProsperityME provides invaluable services to our community and neighbors, and has been a key resource in providing safety and stability to New Mainers since its inception. MaineShare is proud to represent and support this member group in its tireless work.  To learn more about this amazing organization, please visit: https://www.prosperityme.org/