Maine Voices Project

Dear Friend,

We invite you to join an exciting new project in Maine. It's called Maine Voices. The goal is to listen to the views of Maine people like you about poverty, and how it affects our State.

Maine Voices will hold seven "listening sessions" in communities around the State during the last two weeks of June. One of these will be in your area. These sessions will be hosted by the Maine Community Action Association in partnership with the state-wide low-income coalition, the Maine Association of Independent Neighborhoods. This project is funded by the Maine Community Foundation.

Participants will have the opportunity to share their thoughts about poverty and what it means to them and their communities. They will also be asked to offer solutions to end poverty in Maine. Fifteen people will be invited to take part in each forum. A cash stipend of $50 will be given to participants to help cover costs of travel, childcare and related expenses.

Each forum will be held in the early evening, and will run for about two hours. Light refreshments will be served. These sessions will become the building blocks for the Second Annual Maine Symposium on Poverty and Economic Security to be held this fall. The forums will be videotaped so that participant voices can help shape planning for the Symposium and action steps that follow.

If you and your family face difficult economic choices and want to contribute to this discussion, please fill out a survey (see link below). Be sure to put it in the mail no later than May 27 th . We will use these surveys to select participants who will bring a broad range of experience to the discussion. We will let you know if you have been selected by June 10 th .

We look forward to hearing from you and thank you for considering this invitation.

Maine Voices Project Survey