Feb 2, 2021 | Newsletters
Dear Friends,
How many of your newsletters since the inauguration have included quotes from
Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb?” This one will be no different! I was so moved by all the official events on January 20th and I hope it gave you all some hope that change is on the horizon.
I’ve recently become addicted to dance and music videos on TikTok (I know!) and one of my favorite escapes are the ice skating videos by Elladj Balde. I highly recommend his
skating to these opening lines:
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We’ve braved the belly of the beast
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
Here are a couple sections of Ms. Gorman’s poem that spoke to me about the work we are doing.
“The hill we climb
If only we dare
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it”
….
“When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it”
So many of my colleagues in the nonprofit space are dedicating themselves to understanding the role they/we have played in the present we have created and how to best step into that past and be brave enough to see it, be it & repair it.
MaineShare continues to be inspired by the difficult and slow work of our membership and the support of all of you.
In this newsletter, we also announce the distribution of almost $130,000 to our member groups.
Read more.
Nov 24, 2020 | Newsletters
Dear Friends,
As Thanksgiving approaches, we are grateful for all the hard work MaineShare members have done over the past year (and much longer). Many have worked to increase voter engagement and all have been elevating the critical issues impacting our state. By organizing year-round, many of our members ensure that more voices from more corners of the state are choosing our leaders and are included when those leaders are making decisions that affect us all. Through their efforts, newly elected and re-elected officials are better equipped to craft equitable and sound policies that will benefit us all.
In this newsletter, we offer you the good works of some of our member groups that exemplify the organizing, advocating, and educating referenced above. We hope you will add them to your list of things for which you are grateful! Read more.
Oct 30, 2020 | Newsletters
Winter is coming, but MaineShare members are doing all they can to make sure Mainers have what they need to survive and thrive.
In this edition of our monthly newsletter, we are pleased to share with you inspiration, events (VegFest!), and updates from our member groups and from MaineShare.
Here in the MaineShare virtual office, we are working hard with our workplace partners to have a successful campaign during these unprecedented times. So far, the results are more promising than we expected, however, some workplaces and their employees have been incredibly hard hit by the pandemic. Our thoughts go out to them and their families and we are so grateful for their continued support when they, themselves are facing hard times.
We also launched a major website tune-up – check it out! Thanks to board member, Jodie Lapchick, for her design influence and to our website beta testers for making this happen on a shoe-string and quickly.
We’re pleased to have a new “News & Events” section which we hope to build out over time. Right now, we are posting our newsletters there as well as our events & occasional news pieces. Check out our recent post on our two new board members and our new video about our network.
Now onto the inspiration from our member groups! Read more.
Oct 19, 2020 | Newsletters
Watching our member groups innovate and adapt has been inspiring. The first story in this newsletter is about an event planned before the shutdown and canceled 24 hours before it was to begin. In the events section of this newsletter, our members are really evolving and creating exciting virtual experiences.
This additionally is an incredible time for our democracy. MaineShare member groups are working to make sure all of our voices are heard, our votes are cast and counted, and democracy thrives.
Unrestricted, reliable streams of income, like the funding MaineShare provides to our member groups, allows nonprofits to be nimble and adaptable when the only thing that is constant is change. Many of you are loyal supporters of MaineShare and thanks to you, we are contributing to our members’ ability to flex!
Read our September Newsletter for stories about how our member groups are innovating, adapting, and inspiring
Aug 31, 2020 | Newsletters
As we say goodbye to another Maine summer and look ahead to a fall and winter full of uncertainty, what is giving you hope?
I know that I am hopeful for sound practices, policies, affordable care, and medical breakthroughs that keep COVID-19 at bay and provide for those of us most impacted by the pandemic. If not, the long Maine winter will be an incredible challenge for both the isolated and those who cannot isolate.
I am also hopeful for an election season where honest policy debates and a free and fair election outshine the dark forces of misinformation and voter suppression.
Why am I hopeful? I’ve had the privilege and honor to dig deeply into all that is MaineShare, where the collective power of our amazing Member Groups and the workplaces and employees that support them are making real positive change. Our Member Groups are engaging long-time advocates as well as young people, New Mainers, and native Mainers to advance justice – from animal rights and the health of the planet, to women’s & immigrants’ rights, to economic opportunity, to the promotion & protection of our democracy.
Read our August Newsletter for hope-inspiring examples from our Member Groups.
Jun 20, 2020 | Newsletters
Friday was Juneteenth, an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the US. It has been celebrated by Black Americans since the late 1800s, and now provides a great opportunity to reflect on what it means to be free in America. What should liberty & justice for all look like and why haven’t we been able to achieve it?
At MaineShare, we support our Member Groups, many of whom have been asking this question for a long time and many of us who are still trying to figure out how we unwittingly may be obstacles to progress because we haven’t been asking enough questions.
This edition of our newsletter highlights what we are learning from some of our amazing Member Groups such as ProsperityMaine who works with new immigrants to navigate all the essential components of building economic success in our country; Maine Initiatives who recently issued a heartfelt statement and promise, “We are all Minneapolis – We are Minneapolis ” – and then followed it up by announcing they are making an immediate contribution totaling $20,000 to four Black-led organizations; Consumers for Affordable Health who advocates for the right to quality, affordable health care for every person in Maine; Maine Access Immigrant Network’s (MAIN) Community Health Workers who help immigrants and refugees become familiar with their health care and rights; Maine Equal Justice who works to target and shrink disparities through policy change; and Resources for Organizing and Social Change who provides a wealth of social justice legacy information, downloadable resources and support.
Read our more in our June Newsletter online.
