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Maine DHHS Launches StrengthenME Initiative to Help Maine People Cope with Stress of the Pandemic
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced today the launch of StrengthenME, an initiative to help Maine people cope with the stress and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing free tools, support, and community connections that promote wellness, resilience, and recovery.
StrengthenME is funded by nearly $5 million through a joint grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Maine DHHS announced in June that the Department would use $1 million from the first round of this funding to develop the initiative. DHHS was awarded $3.7 million in the second round of funding to extend this project over a longer term, recognizing that public health emergencies have both immediate and long-term psychological impacts.
Through StrengthenME, DHHS is collaborating with a coalition of community organizations and agencies to offer free stress management, wellness and resiliency resources to anyone experiencing emotional challenges in response to the pandemic.
If you or someone you know is looking for support, call (207) 221-8198, seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. StrengthenME is free, confidential, anonymous, and available to anyone in Maine.
StrengthenME is supporting the NAMI Teen Text line, expansion of the Intentional Warm Line, and a behavioral health marketing campaign. Additionally, the Maine DHHS Office of Behavioral Health is contracting throughout the state with provider agencies for Community Health Workers (CHWs), regional crisis support, and therapists with specialization in serving populations such as older Mainers and people of color.
StrengthenME also includes the FrontLine WarmLine, a phone support service that provides Maine's essential health care workers, first responders, and school staff with help in managing the stress of providing essential services during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The FrontLine WarmLine is intended specifically for these groups and is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 7 days a week by calling (207) 221-8196 or texting the word "frontline" to 898-211.
DACF asking for help locating ash trees sold at Lowe's stores
The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) seeks the public's help in locating ash trees sold at Lowe's stores in Maine during spring and summer 2020.
DACF Horticulture and Forest Health officials are concerned that the trees may contain emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive insect that kills ash trees. The trees originated at a nursery located in an EAB infested and quarantined area. Customers purchased thirty-six of these trees during spring and summer from Lowe's stores in Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, Brewer, Brunswick, Portland, Sanford, Scarborough, Thomaston, and Windham. The trees were potted, sold for $29.98, and labeled as Ash Green, Fraxinus pennsylvanica.
Customers who have not already been contacted by Lowe’s are asked to get in touch with Maine State Horticulture Program, by emailing bugwatch@maine.gov or calling directly at 207-287-7545
DACF suggests that everyone refrain from planting any ash tree (Fraxinus spp., not mountain-ash) and the white fringe tree (Chionanthus sp.). EAB is established in Maine, and EAB infestations surround the state in Vermont, New Hampshire, New Brunswick, and Quebec. Ornamental ash trees in areas with EAB infestation require regular application of insecticides to survive and thrive. Visit https://www.maine.gov/eab for more information about emerald ash borer.
DACF extends its gratitude to Lowe's and Clinton Nurseries for their response to this ash tree incident. DACF and Lowes staff worked collaboratively to address the situation, inform customers who purchased ash trees, and hang informational signage at Lowe's stores throughout Maine.
About EAB in Maine EAB, first detected in Michigan in 2002, has spread across 35 states through wood products, including firewood and trees sold for planting. In Maine, EAB currently infests a small percentage of our ash trees. Current EAB quarantine areas in Maine include all of York and Cumberland Counties, parts of Oxford County, and the northeastern corner of Aroostook County. The quarantine boundaries were drawn to form a buffer on those towns where EAB had been detected. EAB was found in northern Aroostook County in May 2018, western York County in September 2018, and Cumberland County in September 2019. DACF remains committed to delaying this pest's impacts in uninfested areas through education, survey, quarantine, and biological control efforts.
Become an Alfond Leader, Get $60,000 to live and work in Maine!
Maine is an even better place to live and work, thanks to the Harold Alfond Foundation
The Harold Alfond Foundation and the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) are once again seeking applications for student loan debt relief for Maine residents who are employed by a Maine-based business in the STEM-related fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Applications are now being accepted through November 15, 2020. The Alfond Leaders program assists Maine employers in attracting and retaining talented STEM professionals by providing student loan debt relief of up to $60,000 per recipient.
The Harold Alfond Foundation recently invested $500 million in making Maine a great place to live, work, and learn. The Alfond Leaders is just one more example of the Foundation’s ongoing investment in the effort to attract and retain qualified STEM workers for Maine’s future.
An applicant must have a higher education degree or certificate or be graduating by May 31, 2021 in order to apply during this current application collection period.
Applicants will be recruited from across the nation, and current Maine residents are eligible and encouraged to apply.
An Alfond Leaders Advisory Committee assists in the selection of applicants and recommends candidates. Applicants can apply by visiting AlfondLeaders.org.
Who is eligible?
- Maine residents or persons who will become Maine residents upon being hired by a Maine-based employer;
- A person employed, or who will be employed, by a Maine-based employer in a designated STEM occupation;
- An applicant must have a higher education degree or certificate or be graduating by May 31, 2021 to apply in this current application cycle (November 15, 2020 – March 15, 2021)
- An applicant must have outstanding student loan debt;
- Candidates must submit an application, including a written essay, an official college transcript and resume, a statement of intent to live and work in Maine for six years; an employment certification by a Maine-based employer; and disclosure of the amount, source, and terms of the student loan indebtedness.
- Those selected to become Alfond Leaders will receive debt reduction payments made on their behalf, paid in two disbursements after three and six years respectively, of qualifying employment.
To learn more about the program or to apply, please visit: AlfondLeaders.org
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