Advocacy Initiatives

Our Decision to Be Social Justice Oriented

We are committed to intentional action towards creating meaningful social change.  We align firmly with our core value of advocacy and our professions' ethical standards.  Similar to most institutions, we want to acknowledge that our profession has harmed populations due institutional discrimination, and we want to actively work towards dismantling unjust power structures and systemic oppression through identifiable and accountable actions.  In the Social Work Code of Ethics, one of the ethical principles is to challenge social injustice:

"Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers' social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice. These activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful participation in decision making for all people."

August's Focus:

• We care deeply about the impact of wild fires in Maui and have donated to the Hawaii Community Foundation

July's Focus:

• We are devastated by the flooding happening in Vermont that has harmed many farmers and community members; we have donated to the Vermont Community Foundation

June's Focus:

• We support Mom's Demand Action and encourage folks to find an event near you to Wear Orange Weekend in an effort to raise awareness of gun violence
• We are utilizing our team meetings to discuss better ways to embody decolonization and unlearn white supremacy, as well as develop action items to do so; we encourage folks to view the Privilege Wheel and together, we can better recognize our intersectional identities and our proximity to power
• Happy Pride!  We are encouraging folks to donate to Equality Maine and attend a PRIDE event near you
• Happy Juneteenth!  To learn more about the history of this holiday, read here.

May's Focus: 

• We support and are planning to submit testimony for (L.D. 1343) Bill ”Act to Protect the Reproductive Freedom of Maine People by Preempting the Field of Abortion Regulation” 
• We. are also supporting and submitting testimony for (L.D. 1613) Bill “An Act to Prohibit Profiling and to Strengthen Civil Rights in Maine”

April's Focus:

• We are hoping to attend and want to encourage others to attend the Confronting White Supremacy Symposium on 5/20/23 hosted by Community Change, Inc.
• We want to acknowledge and support Portland Museum of Art's pursuit of collecting art from BIPOC teens/young adults. and creating a more inclsusive and inviting space for all identiites; we encourage folks to complete this survey to provide PMA feedback  

March's Focus:

• We are supporting calls to action to revise the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines for weight-related care which misguidedly endorses weight loss surgery and medication for children rather than focusing on screening and treatment for disordered eating
• We are continuing to discuss our opposition for anti-LGBTQ and transgender legislature occurring in various states; most recently the "Don't Say Gay Bill" In North Carolina.  If you would like to donate to the ACLU or learn more visit this website.

February's Focus:

• We are supporting LD 632 An Act To Amend the Social Work Education Loan Repayment Program by encouraging others to submit written testimony of their support; see here for information.
• We have pledged our support for Every Library Action and are committed to vote in a way that supports libraries and does not endorse criminalizing librarians.

January's Focus:

• We have signed a petition to demand to end qualified immunity; please see here for more details
• We are in opposition of LD 109 passing which could harm recovery housing in Maine; get more information here and learn how you can help

December's Focus:

• We are donating to Maine Needs to support all Mainers in having access to their basic needs
• We are donating to Preble Street; an organization that supports unhoused folks in Southern Maine; In January 2020, Maine had an estimated 2,097 unhoused people ranking it 11th in the country for people experiencing homelessness.  We believe safe and affordable housing is a human right

November's Focus:

• In honor of Transgender Awareness Week, we are acknowledging how the trans community faces violence at disproportionate levels; including this statistic: 47% of trans people are sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
• In honor of the upcoming holiday season,  we are donating to Lasagna Love, an organization that connects neighbors for home cooked meal delivery

October's Focus:

• Some of our staff plans to attend a Public Stakeholder Meeting regarding LD1262 to discuss the Department of Health and Human Services' development of  comprehensive statewide strategic plan to serve people in the State with behavioral health needs throughout their lifespans
• We are supporting "Getting Paid Family Leave" on the Ballot in Maine (you can sign a petition at your local polling place)
• We are recognizing Indigenous People's Day, as well as supporting the Cherokee nation in seating their own congressional delegate-- click here to contact your state representatives

September's Focus:

• We are taking a month of rest and thinking about how rest is a political act with social justice implications; we encourage folks to visit The Nap Ministry's website for more information

August's Focus:

• Some members of our team are signing up to participate in a letter writing campaign for folks experiencing incarceration; see here for more information
• We are donating to the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition to support their pursuits in aiding incarcerated folks
• To support folks impacted by financial barriers to therapy, we are currently filling pro-bono therapy slots with our counseling graduate student, Denise!  Please contact us for more information 

July's Focus:

• Some members of our team participated in organizing a reproductive rights rally and protest in our state's capital; see here for an article about the event and gracious speakers/organizations who were in attendance

Ongoing Commitments:

• We have signed the pledge through the GALAP movement in order to provide free and/or low cost letters for gender-affirming medical care.  If you are seeking a letter for gender-affirming surgery, please contact us.  We have received training on both the WPATH standards and Informed Consent standards.
• We are available for pro-bono assessments for asylum seekers.  Please see Immigration Legal Advocacy Project for more information and learn how to support their initiatives.
• Lastly, we are committed to contributing to equity in health care access; therefore, we are working to obtain interns for Fall 2023, so that we can provide free and/or low cost mental health services to community members with limited financial means and/or insurance access/coverage.  Please visit our Clinicians page to see if we have an intern available