Commemorating Five Years of Success: A Recap of Our 5th Anniversary Celebration

We had an absolutely amazing celebration on November 2nd celebrating our fifth year anniversary! The night was absolutely perfect, from the mouthwatering food provided by Chef Louis Pickens at Black Betty's Bistro, the breathtaking photos captured by John Ochira at Ochira Photography to the non-stop tunes from Dennis Ross from WJZP.

The night was filled with so much joy and gratitude. Our board members, both past and present, truly deserve the awards they received for their dedication and commitment. They have put in countless hours of hard work and we owe so much of our success to them. Additionally, we had the privilege of acknowledging individuals and organizations who have partnered with us and played a vital role in our achievements. Their support has been invaluable, and we are deeply grateful for their contributions.

We cannot emphasize enough how grateful we are to our incredible community for showing up to help us celebrate and for their continued support! We truly could not have achieved this without you.

As we reminicize over the last five years, we can see how far we’ve come, and we’re excited for the journey ahead. Let's continue to thrive side by side!

Special thanks to our sponsors Maine Family Planning, Children’s Oral Health Network of Maine, Maine Initiatives, cPort Credit Union, and Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition.

If you are interested in donating to support our organization’s work, please follow our link here!

Rachel Morales is our new treasurer!

A huge thank you to Rachel Morales for stepping up to be our new treasurer!

We know she will be amazing in the position and we welcome her support.

Rachel Morales is the Director of Admissions at the University of Southern Maine. She has worked in Admissions since 2003. She has a long-standing commitment to social justice work, with community service involving Cultivating Multicultural Alliances, Dialogues in Diversity, Maine Youth Suicide Prevention, and as a Board of Directors member for the Center for Prevention of Hate. In 2010, she received the IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Education, Access & Leadership) Award from the New England Association for College Admission Counseling. Ms. Morales lives with her family in Portland, Maine.

Black History Month Community Wellness Fair, Thank you!

From our partners, colleagues, and friends who helped plan and attended the 2nd Annual Black History Month Community Wellness Fair, we want to say THANK YOU! We were so thrilled you were able to join us and participate in so many fruitful conversations, connect and learn from one another. We truly hope that you enjoyed the varying sessions we offered and found the information shared helpful and transferable to your personal and professional careers.

Attached, please find the Official Wellness Fair Toolkit. We hope you will be able to use this throughout the year, share it with others, and start conversations about the contents of the toolkit that take place beyond Black History Month.

BHM Wellness Fair Toolkit OFFICIAL (1)

.pdf

Download PDF • 370KB

Finally, we just wanted to remind you that all of the recordings from the week will remain on the StrengthenME YouTube page.

Once again, THANK YOU so much for joining us and we hope to see you next year!

Carolyn Brady & Regina Phillips

Co-Chairs of the BHM Community Wellness Fair Planning Committee