MAINE Community Integration-MCI

06/15/2026

Hello friends,

A friendly reminder that we will be planting and caring for The 🤟🏽 Gardens on Saturday, June 20 and Sunday, June 28 from 10:00 AM–3:00 PM.

The 🤟🏽 Gardens were created by artist Tanja Hollander as part of the second-year commemoration of the Lewiston shootings. The gardens are an extension of her memorial art project, Mourning Flowers, which brings awareness to the ripple effects of trauma, grief, and fear that move through communities after acts of violence.

We are excited to launch this season from our new location in the (almost open!) Maine MILL parking lot at 1 Beech Street in Lewiston. The gardens have expanded to two additional locations and are thriving thanks to the generosity of our growing network of volunteers and in-kind sponsors.

Please join us and help spread the word through social media, email lists, friends, family, and neighbors. No gardening experience is necessary, just a willingness to be part of a community effort grounded in remembrance, healing, and connection.

If you are interested in helping care for the gardens outside of the designated community days, please reach out. We'd love to have additional support throughout the season.

We hope to see you there.

06/10/2026

We are fully booked and no longer accepting appointments for our dental clinics on June 10–11, 2026. Thank you for the tremendous community response!

If you need a dental appointment, we still have openings at our upcoming clinic dates:

🦷 July 15–16, 2026
🦷 August 24–25, 2026
🦷 September 5, 2026

Please contact us to schedule your appointment in advance. Spots fill quickly!

We are also currently working on scheduling additional dental clinic dates for October through December 2026 and will announce those dates as soon as they are confirmed.

📞 +1 (207) 777-4765
📧 [email protected]

06/03/2026

June is a reminder that health is more than a diagnosis, it is shaped by the food we eat, the movement we engage in, the stress we carry, the relationships we build, and the communities we create.
As we recognize Men's Health Month, National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month, and other health awareness efforts throughout June, Eco-Holistic Health continues to promote a whole-person approach to wellness, connecting nutrition, prevention, physical activity, and community well-being.
Healthy people. Healthy families. Healthy communities.
Maine Afro Yoga Gather to Grow

06/01/2026

Today, June 1, marks the beginning of Alzheimer's & Brain Awareness Month.

Alzheimer's disease is not a normal part of aging. It is a progressive brain disease that affects memory, thinking, behavior, and the ability to carry out daily activities. Early recognition of warning signs can help individuals and families access support, resources, and care sooner.

At Maine Community Integration, we are grateful for the training and partnership opportunities provided by the Alzheimer's Association, Maine Chapter. This collaboration strengthens our ability to share culturally responsive education and support with immigrant, refugee, and underserved communities across Maine.

This month, we encourage everyone to learn the warning signs of Alzheimer's disease, start conversations with loved ones, and support caregivers who often carry much of the responsibility of care.

Together, we can raise awareness, reduce stigma, and build more dementia-friendly communities.


Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s Alzheimer's Association, Maine Chapter

05/29/2026

🌷May Impact Snapshot: Advancing Health, Learning, and Community Well-Being Through Partnership

As we close out May, we are reflecting on a month marked by partnership, learning, and community impact.

This month, Maine Community Integration (MCI):

• Presented at a national conference in New Mexico, sharing community-led approaches that advance health equity, belonging, and systems-level change.

• Presented at the Maine Environmental Education Conference, highlighting youth-centered environmental stewardship, outdoor learning, and pathways to long-term community resilience.

• Partnered with Androscoggin Land Trust, Maine Audubon, and Park Ranger Elizabeth Collado to provide youth with immersive outdoor learning experiences that foster environmental awareness, leadership, and connection to place.

• Collaborated with Bates College to conduct six community focus groups, strengthening community voice and helping inform future programs and priorities.

• Partnered with Leah Elsmore and students in the Bates College Practicum in Public Health course to develop culturally responsive educational materials addressing hypertension and obesity prevention.

• Worked with Kayla K. Thomas and sociology students to support organizational assessment, learning, and impact measurement efforts.

• Hosted a Parent Leadership Self-Defense Workshop in partnership with Prevention. Action. Change.

• Facilitated a Men's Hypertension Workshop focused on prevention, health literacy, and early intervention.

• Participated in two community tabling events, expanding outreach and strengthening connections with community members and partner organizations.

• Distributed more than 400 educational materials focused on health promotion, prevention, and community resource awareness.

We are especially grateful to Morgan Kinney and the Harward Center for Community Partnerships at Bates College for helping strengthen meaningful partnerships between higher education and community organizations.

Collectively, these efforts reflect our commitment to advancing health, educational opportunity, environmental stewardship, and community well-being through trusted partnerships, community-informed solutions, and prevention-focused strategies.

Thank you to our staff, volunteers, partners, funders, and community members whose support makes this work possible.

Maine Audubon Androscoggin Land Trust Bates College

05/26/2026

Our office will be closed tomorrow in observance of Eid al-Adha.

05/19/2026

👏🏽🌿Ashley Medina, our Programs Director, is incredibly passionate about outdoor learning, nature, and youth connection. We were proud to have her present at the 2026 Maine Environmental Education Association (MEEA) Annual Conference.

Ashley presented From Stranger to Steward: Cultivating Belonging Through Place-Based Outdoor Learning, a workshop exploring how nature and environmental education can foster belonging, identity, and stewardship for immigrant and underserved youth.

We are grateful to MEEA and everyone who joined this meaningful conversation on inclusive outdoor learning and youth empowerment. Maine Environmental Education Association Maine Audubon Androscoggin Land Trust

05/11/2026

We are incredibly proud to celebrate Najmo Ahmed, an alumna of our Isku-Filan Girls Program, for being selected as the student commencement speaker for the Class of 2026 at the University of Southern Maine.

A proud Lewiston native, Najmo is graduating with a degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences while interning with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and pursuing her Master’s in Public Health.

Watching her grow into such a thoughtful, accomplished, and community-driven leader has been truly inspiring. Moments like this remind us why investing in girls and youth leadership matters so deeply.

Meet Najmo Ahmed: USM's student commencement speaker for the Class of 2026. 🎓

She's a Lewiston native finishing her bachelor’s degree in social and behavioral sciences while also interning at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and working towards a master’s in public health....and her mom still doesn't know she's speaking at commencement!🤫

Get to know her before she takes the stage 👉 https://usm.maine.edu/blog-pack-chat/class-of-26-meet-najmo-ahmed-usms-student-commencement-speaker/

05/05/2026

Since 2021, we have been showing up every Friday with our community, creating space for connection, movement, and learning. Over the past six months, mothers have been consistently engaging in Afro Yoga, and recently they began asking a simple but powerful question: what comes next?

Last Friday, we answered that together by expanding the session into a two-hour empowerment self-defense workshop for mothers. It created a safe and accessible way to move, release stress, and build confidence. You could feel the shift in the room as women became more present, more grounded, and more connected to their own strength.

This is part of how we work as a community. Our first Fridays center mothers and movement, second Fridays focus on NutritionRx for the whole community, and third Fridays create space for fathers. Each piece builds on the other, strengthening not just individuals, but whole families.

Our parents are not participants; they help shape this work with us. When mothers are supported, families shift, and when families shift, communities grow stronger.

What would you want to see next in a space like this? 💚💜

Maine Afro Yoga Prevention Action Change