Photo Credit: Racial Equity & Justice
Images of some of the volunteers that helped with the Community Clean-Up.
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On Saturday, April 24th, multiple community members and activists came together for a community clean-up in Bangor. This event was hosted by Greater Bangor Housing Coalition, the Peace & Justice Center, Racial Equity & Justice, Needlepoint Sanctuary, and Dignity First. Volunteers were split up into two groups and ventured to clean up the Waterfront and Second Street Parks.
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Photo Credit: Josh Kauppila from Greater Bangor Housing Coalition
Boston speaks to the volunteer group before the clean-up.
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Before the clean-up, some members of GBHC spoke before the group. Boston, one of the group's unhoused members, gave a powerful speech about the blame often put on houseless community members for litter in public spaces, and why putting the blame on this community is misdirected and lacks empathy for our neighbors. Letting go of this stigma and taking the time to work together on these issues is what will ultimately make our community a better place.
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Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
An example of the food boxes provided to us by the Ecumenical Food Cupboard.
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We are still taking nominations for our community food effort! You can anonymously nominate a family (including your own) here on our Google Form here.
We have been keeping busy with the 30 people we have been giving our food boxes. Thanks to the efforts of many, we have been able to consistently provide these families with food all month. The Ecumenical Food Cupboard has been doing the box arrangements and will continue doing so for us.
We also still welcome volunteers for our delivery drivers. Please let us know if you want to volunteer with us on our food pantry efforts too. Thanks for your support!
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Greater Bangor Housing Coalition
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Photo Credit: Sedum Jackson
A still from one of GBHC's first meetings.
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The Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) has good news for this month. GBHC was able to present their bathroom proposal to Bangor City Council and the proposal was accepted! The group has also initiated conversation around housing with the council and community as well.
You can read GBHC's bathroom proposal here. Some of the members are currently negotiating where the bathrooms will be placed. GBHC's plan asks for three to be placed in Pickering Square and one be placed by the waterfront. There will also be hired bathroom attendants that will clean and inspect them every day, and the group's goal is to hire community members to do this.
The group is in communication with the council over the housing crisis in Bangor too. GBHC has been emphasizing the importance of listening to the voices of those most affected by houselessness and including community members in the planning and implementation of related policies. The group also wants the city to prioritize supporting rather than criminalizing our neighbors, and the first step to doing this is looking at more housing solutions. Some ideas for exploring include tiny homes, city-run tenting locations, and looking at other successful cities' plans.
The group meets every Saturday at ~1PM in Pickering Square, with a rain location at the Unitarian Universalist Church. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us in person or virtually. Email us at peacectr@gmail.com if you want the link, and follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.
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No Penobscot County Jail Expansion
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Portrait of Devin by Lizzy Schule
Taken from No Penobscot County Jail Expansion Groups' Facebook Page. Devin is one of their people featured in the PCJ Storytelling Project.
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The No Penobscot County Jail Expansion is working to encourage Penobscot County Commissioners to use federal American Recovery Plan funding to invest in community-based services. Their priorities are mental health care, substance use disorder treatment and housing.
The group is also still doing a storytelling project to gather the stories of community members who have spent time in Penobscot County Jail from 2018 to the present. Each participant also has the opportunity to have their portrait painted by a Maine artist. The group will be sharing these stories and portraits in a variety of ways to help create change inside the Penobscot County Jail and in the community. To read more about the project, check out their website here.
People who have spent time in PCJ and are willing to tell their story are invited to contact storytelling project organizer Dylan Moore at zeraph.moore@gmail.com. Participants can be anonymous if desired. For more information on the project, check out this Google Doc here.
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Freedom & Captivity: Art on Abolition
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For those of you with a creative mind, you may be excited to hear about this opportunity to share your art! The Freedom & Captivity Coalition and other orgs are in search of visual artists, writers, and musicians for their upcoming show, "Freedom & Captivity: Art on Abolition." This exhibit focuses on the theme of abolition and a reimagining of the world through this lens.
This group understands abolition as the "tearing down of racist systems of policing, detention, captivity, and monitoring" and replacing it with "community-led systems of caring for people and harm reduction." This exhibit is an open call that especially welcomes those who are incarcerated or have been incarcerated to participate, as well as anyone in the community that cares about this issue. The exhibit launches on August 2nd, with existing work submissions due June 1st.
For more information on this exhibit and how to apply, check out this flyer as well as this website here. We hope to see some of your work there! |
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Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM
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Looking to get involved again in a safe, socially distanced way? Kevin continues to meet every Tuesday at noon with other activists for the weekly Peace Vigil. The group meets across the street from the Peace & Justice Center on the corner of Harlow and Central Street. We hope to see you there masked up and ready to demonstrate!
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THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!
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