RECOVERY MONTH: A recap!
Dear Maine Recovery & Harm Reduction Community,
As we close out Recovery Month, we’re celebrating the people who show up every day to support recovery, strengthen their communities, and remind us what’s possible when we care for one another.
Throughout Recovery Month, we traveled across Maine to rallies, celebrations, resource fairs, community events, and more—showing up alongside recovery communities from one end of the state to the other. Each stop gave us a chance to celebrate recovery, share resources, build new connections, and talk with people about why their voices matter.
Across the State of Maine, we also helped register 86 new recovery voters! More than a number, each registration represents another person who is ready to have a say in the decisions affecting recovery, treatment, harm reduction, housing, and our communities.
We also spent recovery month learning and celebrating with folks from all across the Country. From the Clean Slate gathering to visiting Onpoint in New York, and a few stops in between, we celebrated all that is recovery across the United States.
Now.... it's time to get out the recovery vote! Have we mentioned that Election Day is November 3rd?? More on that soon! :)
In Solidarity,
The ME-RAP Team
ME-RAP Across Maine!
Augusta Recovery Rally!
Augusta showed OUT for recovery. [Who attended for staff/volunteers?] We were proud to co-host the Augusta Recovery Rally with Zysk Recovery Partners and HFGC Recovery Network and spend the day with people celebrating recovery, connecting with resources, and just being together. The waterfront was full of families, friends, providers, advocates, and people in recovery showing what community can look like when people come together around hope instead of stigma. We also registered 27 new voters because recovery voices belong everywhere decisions about our lives and communities are being made.
Bangor area recovery network: Recovery-Palooza!
Courtney and Cole headed to Bangor for Recovery-Palooza, where the waterfront was full of people celebrating recovery, sharing resources, and showing what community can look like. We also registered 23 new voters toward our Recovery Month goal.
Another highlight was getting to celebrate Jamie Beck receiving the Jean Baker Recovery Advocacy Award. Jamie consistently shows up, speaks up, and advocates for people impacted by substance use, and seeing that work recognized was incredibly well deserved.
Lakes region recovery center recovery celebration!
Clay kicked off our Recovery Month travels in Bridgton at Lakes Region Recovery Center’s Recovery Celebration. Events like this are a reminder that recovery is happening everywhere, in big cities, small towns, families, and communities all across Maine.
Clay spent the day connecting with people, sharing resources, and representing ME-RAP alongside people doing this work in western Maine every day. We also registered 3 new voters while we were there.
somerset county: ROAR recovery rally!
Rick and Rudy headed to Skowhegan for the ROAR Recovery Rally, and Rudy may have made even more friends than Rick did. The event brought together people from across Somerset County to celebrate recovery, connect with one another, and learn more about resources in their community.
Between conversations, resources, and plenty of recovery pride, Rick also helped register 6 more new voters toward our Recovery Month goal.
Portland recovery Community Center: Rally 4 Recovery!
Rain or shine, recovery shows up. Cole, Meghan, and Rachel joined Portland Recovery Community Center for Rally 4 Recovery on a very wet September day, alongside people and organizations from across Maine’s recovery community. Sometimes Recovery Month means sunshine and packed parks, and sometimes it means rain jackets, wet tables, and showing up anyway.
Maine Correctional Center Recovery Resource Fair!
Meghan represented ME-RAP at the Maine Correctional Center Recovery Resource Fair, bringing resources and information directly to people who may need those connections when they return home. Recovery support has to reach people wherever they are, including people who are incarcerated and thinking about what comes next. Opportunities like this help make sure people know there is a community and support system waiting beyond the walls.
Maine People's Alliance Awards Dinner!
Rick and Clay joined Maine People’s Alliance for an Awards Dinner that gave everyone a chance to slow down and celebrate together. Recovery Month is full of rallies, tables, and long days, but evenings like this matter too.
Sharing a meal, spending time in community, and recognizing the people behind this work is part of what makes recovery communities strong.
Western Maine Recovery Rally!
Recovery Month took us west, too! We joined HILLS Recovery Center for the Western Maine Recovery Rally and spent another day meeting people, sharing resources, and celebrating recovery in community. Events like this matter because they create space for people to be open about recovery, find support, and see just how many people are standing beside them. We also helped 8 more people register to vote while we were there, adding another stop to our statewide Recovery Month voter registration effort.
Coastal Recovery Community Center: Recovery Rally!
Rockland was another stop on our Recovery Month travels, where we joined CRCC for their Recovery Rally. We brought the ME-RAP table, resources, voter registration information, and plenty of recovery pride, and spent the day talking with people from across the Midcoast. What we took home were more conversations, more connections, and another reminder that this movement is so much bigger than any one organization. Every community has people showing up, and Recovery Month gave us the chance to see so much of that firsthand.
AccessDirect Recovery Softball BBQ!
After a month of rallies, tables, long drives, and packed schedules, this one was just FUN. We joined AccessDirect for their Recovery Softball BBQ in Biddeford and got to spend time together outside of meetings, programs, and work.
There is something important about having spaces where recovery does not have to be serious all the time and people can simply enjoy being part of a community. Recovery is laughter, friendship, belonging, and sometimes it is softball and a BBQ.
Lewiston Rally for recovery!
Tess represented ME-RAP at Lewiston’s Rally for Recovery at Kennedy Park, spending the day connecting with community members, sharing resources, and celebrating recovery. She also registered 10 new voters, giving our Recovery Month voter registration goal one final boost. It was a great way to close out a month that took us across Maine and showed, again and again, just how much recovery community exists in every corner of our state.
Project Doorstep: Conversations across augusta
Since our last Project Doorstep update, the team has kept moving through Augusta. Through September, we knocked 1,663 doors, talking with residents about the ME-RAP Access Center and hearing directly from the community.
Among people who shared an opinion, 86% were supportive of our work at the Access Center. At the same time, 66% had not yet heard of the Access Center, reminding us why these conversations matter. Every door is another opportunity to answer questions, share information, and make sure our neighbors know what resources are available right here in Augusta.
ME-RAP Beyond the Rallies!
Learning from onpoint NYC
Courtney, Meghan, Tess, and Kaitlin traveled to New York City to spend time with the team at OnPoint NYC, the first publicly recognized overdose prevention center in the country.
Getting to see the work up close, learn from people who helped build something once considered impossible, and bring those lessons home was incredibly powerful. We left with full notebooks, even more ideas, and a bigger belief in what is possible when communities are willing to lead with dignity, evidence, and care.
clean slate initiative summit
Mike represented ME-RAP at The Clean Slate Initiative’s Lived Experience Summit in Atlanta, joining advocates from across the country working to expand earned second chances.
The summit offered a chance to learn from other states, build connections, and bring ideas home as we continue supporting Clean Slate efforts in Maine
fore foundation convening
Courtney also traveled to Atlanta for a convening hosted by the FORE Foundation, bringing together organizations from across the country working on the front lines of the opioid response.
The conversations were a powerful mix of inspiration and urgency, from creative ideas like bringing legal services directly to recovery community centers to preparing for changes that could affect access to health coverage.
Courtney came home with plenty of ideas, plenty of questions, and, as usual, a growing list of things she wants Maine to build next to save lives and support recovery.
sexual assault crisis & support center annual dinner
Members of the ME-RAP team, board leadership, and their families came together for the Sexual Assault Crisis & Support Center Annual Dinner.
The coustume part theme was a great excuse to get dressed up, enjoy dinner, and support an organization doing important work in our communities. Safe to say, the crew had a great time and no one had to walk the plank!
sexual assault crisis & support center annual dinner
Kaitlin joined the Rotary Club to share the story of the ME-RAP Access Center and give members a closer look at what happens there every day. She shared information about the services available, the people we serve, the impact of the Center’s first year, and the many ways community members can be part of the work.
Opportunities like this help people better understand what low-barrier, community-based support looks like in practice.
92 moose recovery month takeover
Throughout September, ME-RAP and HFGC Recovery Network teamed up with 92 Moose for a Recovery Month takeover, sharing photos, stories, and messages of hope across the station’s website and digital platforms.
It was another way to remind people across central Maine that recovery is happening every day, recovery is possible, and no one has to do it alone.
A huge thank you to 92 Moose for helping us carry that message even further.