Resources for Organizing and Social Change - ROSC

05/11/2026

Hey there. Are you a local artist who wants to be paid to create a tabletop display that will offer a spinning arrow on a circle? This will be for a smaller version of ROSC's Wheel of Misfortune, which is a tool we use to educate on class justice. If you've ever visited us at the Common Ground Fair, you've met this beast of a thing that is also an excellent teacher.

04/23/2026

War Tax Resistance Online Gathering and Coordinating Committee Meeting: May 1-3, 2026!

The next NWTRCC gathering is right around the corner and will be on Zoom. Here are links to the schedule & registration pages.

SCHEDULE: https://nwtrcc.org/gathering-schedule/

REGISTRATION: https://nwtrcc.org/gathering-logistics-registration/

We will begin Friday evening with a social hour. Attendees will break out into small groups of their choice based on topic. Saturday, we will have our War Tax Resistance 101 & 201 sessions. We will hear from Rachel Cohen, the Chicago lawyer refusing $8,000 in federal income tax this year. We will also hear from sociologist Ruth Braunstein, whose recent book is My Tax Dollars: The Morality of Taxpaying in America. Saturday will also include a panel about current trends in war tax resistance, and our business meeting will occur on Sunday morning.

"Resisting Together" War Tax Resistance Gathering and Coordinating Committee Meeting Online — May 1-3, 2026 Join us in May for a conference on

04/11/2026

Click on the original image and look at the comments for quick contact info for the governor.

GOVERNOR JANET MILLS IS THREATENING TO VETO THE 18-MONTH DATA CENTER BAN.
LD 307​, the potential first-in-nation ​moratorium, passed with bipartisan majorities in the Maine Senate (21-14)​ and House (83-66)​ this week.

​Gov. Mills ​is faced with a choice - will she choose data centers with recorded net job losses and potential harm to our water sources over Maine people and the environment? O​r will she give pause to a largely unregulated and unaccountable emerging industry?

​Y​ou can email a request to ​Gov. Mills​, asking her ​to do the right thing​. Please contact her today with a quick note asking her to please sign LD 307 into law.

See contact information in the comments.

03/23/2026

**CORRECTION: ROSC not hiring until later in 2026--Note from our ED Sass below**

Hello friends,

My apologies, but as it turns out, ROSC will not be hiring for a second position yet. I had some confusion with the posting date and so the announcement went out prematurely. The hiring date will be later in 2026.

Thank you to those of you who expressed excitement for us and/or for applying; maybe we can just chalk up the premature posting as some form of season teaser? ::sheepish smile::

Keep an eye out for the announcement when it's actually for real, lol.
..to be continued.

In community,
Sass (on behalf of your buddies at ROSC)

********
[Image ID: Meme that says ROSC IS HIRING with an image of a diagonal stamp that says POSTPONED overlaying the original meme]

03/22/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DJPCpENFj/

Next week!

Thursday, 3/26 at 12 noon: Great Falls Forum with Yun Garrison and Fowsia Musse in a talk entitled “Be Healed (Ka Bogso): Posttraumatic Healing and Growth for Somali Refugee Women”

Join Bates Psychology professor Yun Garrison and Somali community leader Fowsia Musse (executive director, Maine Community Integration) in a discussion of their recently published theory of posttraumatic growth. Centered on the Five Rs: Running, Resettlement, Residual Stagnation, Reconciliation, and Resolution, this theory offers a pathway for inter-generational healing. By incorporating first-hand experience and visual art, the theory is also accessible to a wide audience.
Free. In-person or virtual. Bring your bag lunch. Click here for Zoom registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YRrFUWsVRtSTqORPD2JvBA

For more information contact the Adult & Teen Services Department at 513-3135 or [email protected].

03/20/2026

03/19/2026

‼️ROSC Launches New Electronics Redistribution Project!‼️

Hey friends,

We want you to know that ROSC is launching a new redistribution project for technology donations!

The purpose of this program is to collect and source tech donations from people and businesses who want to redistribute them to activists and community organizers in need. The goal is to collect unused laptops, desktop computers, and other electronics that are either still functioning or can be easily repaired to functional status, so we can redistribute them to changemakers across the state who need them on a first-come, first-served basis. Donated devices will be carefully inspected, wiped clean of any personal data, and made secure. If the device is broken/needs repairs, it will be assessed, repaired, and redistributed; otherwise, it will be used for parts in other devices that can eventually be redistributed.

Inventory:

As devices become available for redistribution, we will list them here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15KvkWug0aTW3yQsJsNTyfO0AbaA6xx0kgj-3fw6V8zw/edit?usp=sharing
Because this project is brandy new there's slim pickings at this moment, but you should check back frequently for updates!

To Make a Donation Request:

To request a donated device, please fill out our request form here: https://forms.gle/dVedVbRAgK7KRFrv5

**We cannot guarantee we can fulfill donation requests, but we will do our best to source what you need and get it to you!

And, have no fear, if you lose the above links, you can find them again by going to the Projects tab of our website and selecting the Donated Tech Program page!

To Donate Your Tech:

If you are interested in donating your tech, please be in touch with us by emailing [email protected] and adding "Tech Donation" to your subject line or by calling Sass at 207-607-2571! Please let us know what type of device it is, the make/model, and also the year (or roughly what year it comes from). Also, please let us know if it needs repairs of any kind.

The Lore:

We are teaming up with a young tech enthusiast we've been in community with, who asked if we'd like to be a conduit for sourcing and receiving technology donations, which he will joyfully assess, repair as needed (if possible), wipe clean, and secure, so that they can then be redistributed to people in our community. We are excited to help him find wings for this project so he can keep building his tech skills, while the needs of badass changemakers who could use a break in the form of a tech donation can (to the best of our ability) be met.

So, if you have tech lying around you haven't touched in a toasty minute, and you've wondered how you could make the world a better place about it - wonder no further and give it to us so we can clean it up and give it away! Alternatively, if you have no tech to donate, but you'd like to make a request, fill out the request form linked above, and we'll do what we can to help you catch that break!

If you have any questions or want to generally chat about how cool this project is, or about how cool we are in general, please feel free to respond to this email or call Sass at 207-607-2571.

Yours in community,
Your buddies at ROSC

01/30/2026

ROSC stands in solidarity today with the countless people across the country who are stepping back from business as usual to protest the inhumane, yet very precedented actions of the US gov't and their terrorizing of Black, Indigenous, and other Communities of Color, in the past and today.

We are not going to make statements about the worth people hold based on the ways they contribute to our economy. We are not going to talk about migration as if it's just a choice and a right, when so often the people arriving on the shores of the US are doing so simply because the US interfered with the politics of their home governments in a way that made day-to-day existence untenable for them and their families. And, we are not going to feign surprised outrage as if the recent uptick in public violence by ICE and Border Patrol as a means to their ends has not been endured all along by non-white people abroad and in this country who the US gov't feels are exploitable or in the way of their capitalist, power-mongering, colonizing pursuits.

What we are going to say is that we stand in solidarity with our neighbors at home and abroad who are enduring this unspeakable, undeserved, continuing violence, and we want you to know that we see you. You are not alone.

We are heartened to see the countless organizations and businesses in Wabanaki territory who've opted to close today in solidarity, and we remain not only hopeful, but determined to be of service to those who will continue to organize past today.

We heard the claims of Susan Collins that ICE will be withdrawing from their heightened operations here, but we remain steadfast in the reality that this was only ever an escalation of the terror that was being perpetuated to begin with. We cannot let her words create a false sense of comfort.

Our solidarity will come in the form of continued support for the building of preparedness networks, as well as rapid response planning. We must be as proactive as we are reactive, and that means seeing the marathon past the sprints. We are here to support all people who are interested in creating a nurturing, community focused world, and we are dedicated to taking our cues from those on the frontlines who are being most deeply impacted by this government's violence.

Please be sure to share your resources and time as you can with Presente Maine, Project Relief, Community Relief Fund (on Instagram), Community Organizing Alliance, Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP), Capital Area New Mainers Project, Maine Equal Justice, Maine Needs, and who else? Please list groups and organizations in our comments you know operating in Wabanaki Territory who are in this work and informed by impacted people in a deep way.

01/30/2026

Listen up.

01/28/2026

With everything happening right now, many of us are looking for ways to connect and ground. If this sounds like you, please join us at our next Empowerment Self-Defense drop-in on February 8th.

In moments of heightened threat to immigrants, BIPOC, women, and q***r, trans, and nonbinary people, building skills together is an act of resistance and collective care.

Prevention Action Change invites folks who have taken Empowerment Self-Defense with us before to join an ESD Drop-In. A space to build skills that help keep our communities safer in these times. Come practice your self defense skills, explore scenarios, ask questions, and also have fun in community.

Equality Community Center, Portland, ME
Sundays | 10–11:30 AM
Upcoming dates: Feb 8th, Mar 8th

No pre-registration required. Suggested donation: $10.
All genders and identities welcome, ages 14+.

01/17/2026

An important message from the Maine Direct Action Solidarity Fund:
The Maine Direct Action Solidarity Fund has $26 left in our bank account after sharing $1775 of our funds with a community member and parent who lost her job due to being arrested while protesting at Elbit. She is also the sole provider for her family due to her Palestinian partner having been taken by ICE.

Help us put some money back into our fund so we can be prepared to show support to those willing to engage in direct action towards a better world for all of us.