Downeast ME Tiny House Project Progressing – Sponsors, Materials Welcome

Downeast ME Tiny House Project Progressing – Sponsors, Materials Welcome

Downeast Maine Tiny House Project foundation.

Downeast Maine Tiny House Project Blog
January 29, 2020 – by Sue Unger

CHERRYFIELD, ME — We’re hard at work on our Downeast Maine Tiny House Project. Maine Seacoast Mission’s Scott Shaw is busy keeping the job-site clean and clear of snow. The veteran receiving this tiny house is also working hard to keep the site clear.

Assabet students are diligently working on the house in Massachusetts.

We are still looking for more sponsors. If you’re interested in teaming up with a great group of partners, please contact Scott Shaw or Bobbi Ann Harris. We welcome materials or funds. This house is possible thanks to the overwhelming generosity of our sponsors, and the donated time from many of our contractors.

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DETOP – Hunger, Loneliness, Nowhere in Sight

DETOP – Hunger, Loneliness, Nowhere in Sight

Photos by Hunter Billings

CHERRYFIELD, ME — Just because we haven’t posted news of our Downeast Table of Plenty (DETOP) Sunday dinners in awhile doesn’t mean we don’t love them anymore. To the contrary, DETOP dinners are thriving in the new Weald Bethel Community Center at the Mission Cherryfield Campus.

People from every segment of the community attend, and music, conversation, and laughter preside. Two-year olds sit next to ninety-year olds. Hunger and loneliness are nowhere in sight.

DETOP happens every Sunday, 3:30 to 5:00 pm. Meals are provided by volunteers who offer in advance to prepare and serve that Sunday’s food and drink. If you or your group are interested in hosting a DETOP meal please send an email Wendy Harrington. Thank you.

Learn more about our Downeast Campus activities.

Island Middle to High School Transition Program – High Seas, Resilient Kids

Island Middle to High School Transition Program – High Seas, Resilient Kids

BAR HARBOR, ME — It is an example of how the Mission watches and listens to our communities and responds creatively. That’s how Maine Seacoast Mission President John Zavodny described the Mission’s island Middle to High School Transition Program. Led by Mission Island Outreach Director and Chaplain Douglas Cornman, the annual Transition Program retreat helps students living on unbridged Maine islands prepare for their transition to mainland high schools.

“Every summer, a group of resilient young teens scattered across eight unbridged islands off Maine’s coast are faced with the reality that..they are about to trade the island life they know for a life utterly foreign to them. Nearly all these island students will be boarding on the mainland during high school…with relatives or family friends,” said President Zavodny.

Director Douglas Cornman agrees. “Transitioning into the first year of high school can be intimidating and stressful. The Transition Program retreat offers a place where students can ask questions and have discussions about the transition. A lot of preparation and attention goes into making sure the students attending this three-day, two-night event, feel the safety and comfort needed to open up and engage in the process,” said Cornman.

Island students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade can take part in the retreat. One way Douglas keeps things fresh is by changing retreat venues each year from Camden, to Belfast, to Bar Harbor.

This year, January 17-19, St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church‘s Parish Hall, Bar Harbor, was home base for the Transition Program retreat. Eight students from six islands, along with their parents or chaperone, took part. Douglas was joined by Mission’s Director of Student Pathways Christina Griffith in co-leading the retreat. According to Douglas, Christina used her expertise mostly working with the parents on their thoughts, concerns, and excitement.

Douglas also had help working with the students from Mission EdGE Outreach Coordinator Matthew Cole, Executive Director Nicole Cardano of Theater Today based in Seal Cove, and assorted staff and students from public and private high schools.

This year’s Transition Program retreat helped students and their parents with problem solving, skill building, communication and social skills development, and alleviating anxiety during social interaction. There was also plenty of time for meet-and-greet, game playing, and swimming.

Director Cornman said Sunday’s scheduled retreat activities were “very condensed” because an impending storm sent students boating back early to their home islands. Beforehand, Douglas had each student write a letter to themselves. He will hold onto the letters for a year before mailing them back to the students. This exercise gives the students a chance to reflect on how their thoughts and feelings regarding high school change from one year to the next.

“Yes, we had snow, winds, high seas, had boat cancellations, resilient island kids, parents, and chaperones. And, yes, we had a fantastic fun-filled weekend,” said Douglas.

‘Sunbeam V’ Updater – A Testament to the Boat’s Quality of Construction

‘Sunbeam V’ Updater – A Testament to the Boat’s Quality of Construction

BELFAST, ME — Front Street Shipyard, where the Sunbeam V is having its routine major refit, today posted these two photos of a welder attaching a metal plate underneath the Sunbeam.

Sunbeam V Captain Mike Johnson explains why. He said, “The plate is replacing an area of the hull under the bilge pumps that suffered corrosion from the constant drip of salt water from the pumps. For a 25 year old boat to only need this small amount of plate replacement is a testament to both the quality of construction and high degree of ongoing maintenance.”

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