Connie Jones of Boothbay was elected chair of United Way of Mid Coast Maine’s Board of Directors. “We’ve set a great course for the future,” Jones said. Jones founded Boothbay Region Senior Services and currently serves as Community Liaison for Miles and St. Andrews Home Health and Hospice at LincolnHealth.

Bruce MacDonald of Boothbay, former state legislator, was newly-elected to United Way’s Board of Directors. He has a special interest in their early childhood work. Also elected was Claire Berkowitz, executive director of the Maine Children’s Alliance.

Jones will be joined as a board officer by Nancy Jennings of Bath and Joel Wegner of Five County Credit Union as first and second vice chairs. Matt Orlando, Bowdoin College vice president for finance and assistant treasurer, will continue his service as treasurer of the board.

United Way 2015 results highlighted at the meeting included a campaign which raised $1,850,538 for the community. Approximately 20,000 Mid Coast residents were helped by United Way-funded strategies last year through 37 partner agencies, including the ElderCare Network of Lincoln County, Central Lincoln County YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine, Mobius, Coastal Kids Preschool, Healthy Kids, Lincoln Academy School-Based Health Center, New Hope for Women, Spectrum Generations – Coastal Community Center, the Teen and Young Parent Program, Tri-County Literacy, and many more.

United Way also helped leverage $4 million worth of volunteer power, and assisted over 5,000 local residents find help through 2-1-1 Maine, a free, confidential, and 24/7 referral service started by United Ways of Maine to make sure people who needed services could find them.

Mike Field, Bath police chief, and Tom Kivler, senior director of Behavioral Health at Mid Coast-Parkview Health, delivered a keynote address on: The Opiate Crisis in Mid Coast Maine: How Bad Is It? What Can Be Done?

“We cannot arrest our way out of the opiate crisis,” said Chief Field. “It’s a community problem and we need a multi-pronged approach of enforcement, treatment, and public education.”

Kivler talked about neurobiological theory around addiction, sharing that “addiction is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain; they change its structure and how it works.” He discussed a variety of effective treatments for opiate addiction, including medication-assisted treatment and intensive outpatient treatment.

Meeting attendees were invited to take part in the prevention of drug abuse by disposing of prescription drugs correctly. “The most common place people get illicit opiates is the medicine cabinet of someone they know,” said Kivler. “The community can now dispose of medications at many law enforcement agencies, and some pharmacies.”

Field and Kivler both mentioned investment in early childhood as a key to prevention. Kivler referenced Dr. Felitti’s 1998 study on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to show how important the first year of life is. “The critical brain development that occurs in the first 1,000 days leads to solid cognitive function, social intelligence, and emotional intelligence. Without this strong foundation a child’s risk profile goes up across all domains of health and social functioning.”

High ACE scores directly correlate with high rates of adult smoking, alcoholism, and intravenous drug use. One conclusion of the study is “the cause of addiction is experience-related rather than substance-dependent,” said Kivler.

Adverse childhood experiences occur from more than just everyday stress of life. “It’s when situations of extreme stress are prolonged and unrelenting, in the absence of supportive adults, that a child is affected by toxic stress,” said Kivler. “These situations can include extreme poverty, physical or emotional abuse, chronic neglect, severe maternal depression, substance abuse, or family violence.”

Kivler ended on a hopeful note: “As a community, we are on the right track to reducing the risk of addiction for our local children.” United Way’s early childhood initiative work was mentioned as “making a difference by supporting new parents with real-life parenting support and strategies that encourage healthy brain development for their babies.”

Community Builder Awards were presented to Jaki Ellis and Craig McEwen, Bowdoin College, and the Best Start Initiative Team. The Best Start Initiative Team was recognized for their collaborative efforts to help local children get the best foundation for their brain development by creating of a new unified system for all or most new parents to experience the benefits of research-based home visiting services. The team is comprised of members from multiple agencies, including Early Head Start, The Opportunity Alliance, the Teen and Young Parent Program, Public Health Nursing, Martin’s Point Health Care, CHANS Home Health Care, Mid Coast Medical Group – Women’s Health Care, Mid Coast Hospital, Hornby-Zeller Associates, the John T. Gorman Foundation, and United Way. Ellis and McEwen were recognized for their many years of leadership in the Mid Coast region, most recently successfully leading a team charged with finding resources and information about healthy parenting for new parents.

Bowdoin College was recognized for their ongoing and extensive role in engaging with the common good by encouraging student and faculty involvement in the community, supporting local agencies, and embodying philanthropy-in-action. “Our Mid Coast Maine community is healthier and stronger because of Bowdoin College’s commitment to social responsibility,” said United Way Executive Director Barbara Reinertsen.

The annual meeting was sponsored by Oxford Networks.

United Way of Mid Coast Maine’s mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities. In partnership with thousands of donors, United Way works to improve education, financial stability, and health for people in Sagadahoc and Lincoln counties, Brunswick and Harpswell.