Celebrating Community- A look back at 2023
2023 was a busy and exciting year at Mano en Mano!
A field trip to Maine Maple Weekend this past year
Across all of our programs we worked towards our mission of creating a stronger and more inclusive Maine. Our team organized Welcome and Resource Centers to welcome new and familiar faces to Downeast Maine, visited the statehouse in Augusta to give testimony in support of bills impacting farmworkers, and celebrated milestones alongside our community.
As the year comes to an end, we wanted to reminisce on some of our favorite memories from the past year.
Nurturing Community Health and Wellness
In response to community feedback, we formed a Community Health and Wellness board that organized wellness programming throughout the year! Activities included: Wellness Walks, cooking classes, discussions around birth equity, and women’s retreats with our partners at In Her Presence.
Learning in the Migrant Education Program
Students in the Migrant Education Program spent the year working alongside program coordinators, their families and schools to reach their educational goals. In addition to advocacy and resource support, our team organized educational enrichment activities, college visits, and celebrated the graduation of students from high school!
Blueberry Harvest School 2023
We welcomed students ages 3-15 to our 4 week summer program in Milbridge. This summers theme was Traditions, and students explored topics of culture, language, and identity.
In addition to activities at school, students spent time exploring outside of the classroom, and visited the University of Maine at Orno, swimming sport throughout Downeast Maine, and the Abbe Muesum.
Advocating for Justice
This year our team traveled to the state capital in Augusta to provide testimony in support of bills to advance the health and wellness of immigrants and farmworkers. We gave testimony in support of LD 199 to provide MaineCare for All, and various bills that would support farmworkers be recognized as employees in Maine.
Welcoming folks to our Community
Over Maines harvest seasons (blueberry, apple, potato, broccoli, wreath and elvers) our team worked with community members and partner organizations to realize Welcome and Resource Centers across the state to welcome workers and their families and connect them to resources they may need. We supported more than 3,000 people and were able to welcome folks with a warm meal, a visit to our food pantry, resource bags and more!
Feeding our Neighbors
Our culturally nourishing food pantry, Our Mercadito was busy feeding our community this year! We held bimonthly Market Days to distribute fresh produce and refrigerated items, and distributed over 137,600 pounds of food (an estimated 165,120 meals)!
Making Housing Accessible
Our housing program continued to grow in 2023!
Welcome Home Downeast completed 3 properties and welcomed 3 new families to the area. Familes are able to rent the homes and have the oppourtunity to purchase the homes they are renting within 5 years. Additionally, to 30 families completed their grants through the Housing Barrier Removal Fund. Families were able to use support to make their existing homes safe and livable or use funding as downpayment support for a new home!
Letting Kids Shine
Both the kiddos and Rayitos de Sol Bilingual Childcare center grew in 2023! Highlights from the Rayitos de Sol programming included: planting a community garden, visits to the Milbridge Commons, and learning new songs and games. While kids continued to learn and grow, our center expanded as well and we raised 50k in 50 days with your help to expand our facility!
Celebrating Success
This year we celebrated recognitions from partner organizations including the Community Partner award from ILAP (Immigrant Legal Action Project), and Nosotros, We the People. We also celebrated our Executive Director, Juana Rodriguez Vazquez for her recognition as Community Health Champion from Healthy Acadia, and were given a generous gift from the employees at Bar Harbor Bank and Trust to help continue our work.
Celebrating Identity and Culture
We were able to celebrate alongside our community this year. Events included: Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Children’s Day, Día de Los Muertos, La Posada and Latin Dance Nights!
We want to take time to send our gratitude to all of the community members, partner organizations and allies that made this work possible.
We are excited for the new year and the growth that 2024 will bring!
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