1 16 3 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/51500/archive/files/00d21bbaf9ef898a2418fc5e22893f53.PNG?Expires=1779926400&Signature=A948b5XINLPNFkTszdNZ2e6cxuOL5B6JE4Amhlnp2z2bJa7BTVa9aQEW8Nn9WYLTb1o2wI8sC6%7E4Bca4uQ4yHE34a3HqBIfhfOWC7id0nYXOAPE-VGav0JWW903ICj0CTf4FIarVjv1u8YznL7ls%7EFwfGtTilMmIoRtxZbuPWzJ0ajVQZB81mqN-7gSAwx3Tl8EnlojOArNbwCwwURGzL81FpEeHz4Eo4brmvKfvE%7E-vSPUZyv-d66S1igU%7EasFwhVH-0inPHl%7ELKFBmuiUk2wVFzdnfSioGmccw2AMEY8U1UShTJ6P7HTsi7-wElDX5W3HhKsgATRV%7EePC7ALT4cQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 51e5d8bf47f43847a199b30c39949d16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergency Archive Description An account of the resource Writing, images, recordings, and other materials documenting life in Central Maine during the COVID-19 pandemic and other historic events that have impacted our communities. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 2021 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Penobscot County (Me.) Piscataquis County (Me.) Somerset County (Me.) Subject The topic of the resource Communities COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hartland Public Library (Hartland, Me.) Newport Cultural Center (Newport, Me.) Pittsfield Public Library (Pittsfield, Me.) Skowhegan Free Public Library (Skowhegan, Me.) Thompson Free Library (Dover-Foxcroft, Me.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Text of your story PISCATAQUIS – Getting a new program started can be challenging enough without running into a pandemic during early days. Libby Kain was hired as Recovery Coach Site Coordinator for Piscataquis County in December, working through Mayo Regional Hospital (now Northern Light Mayo Hospital). Healthy Acadia received funding to expand existing recovery services for substance abuse disorder from Washington and Hancock counties into Piscataquis, Somerset and Waldo counties, “so I am working through the hospital, but I am subcontracted,” Kain explained. “The Recovery Coach program is a free, peer-based service for people in recovery or contemplating recovery or affected others – those who have friends or loved ones who struggle with substance abuse disorder,” Kain said. The program uses recovery-positive messaging, provides support and tries to assist individuals in recovery by “helping to remove obstacles and barriers to recovery, by motivating and mentoring, encouraging them, by educating the community, and advocating for [those in or seeking recovery].” A meet-and-greet community dinner had been scheduled for potential recovery coaches in March, but that had to be cancelled at the last minute due to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. “Another training was supposed to me in May, a four-day Recovery Coach Academy, but that also had to be canceled,” Kain said. So for now, Kain is wearing both the coaching and site coordinator hats herself. “As coordinator my job is to oversee the coaches and coordinate in the community. I work with community partners and different organizations to let them know the program is available. A lot of the work I was doing was letting people know about this new program and trying to get volunteers on board so they can be coaches.” With no volunteers yet trained, Kain, now working from home, continues her community outreach while also working directly as a coach with persons in recovery. “We did have to make changes, obviously, with the physical distancing and stay-at-home, which eliminated in-person meetings,” said Kain. “I am not in my office. I’m working from home. However, I am still fully operational, still scheduling meetings, using Zoom to video chat or talking over the phone. And I am still able to take new referrals.” It’s been a challenge, with a program “so new a lot of people don’t know about it,” she said. “Not only that we provide addition support for people in Piscataquis County, but that we want the community to get involved, we want to reduce the stigma and let people know that recovery is possible when people are given supports and are ready to use them. There is so much stigma. People think it’s not possible for them to recover, or that they aren’t worth it. I’m trying to create a recovery-ready community that knows people can and do recover, and I think that’s really important for our community to start thinking about.” Once it is deemed safe, new in-person recovery coach trainings will be scheduled. For now, Kain is trying to put together virtual training opportunities. “Safety is the most important thing, but we are safely continuing to provide services,” she said. “Word of mouth can do a lot. A lot of people don’t know what they can do to help, or are not aware of what programs and supports are available close to home, especially during these times. Isolation is really difficult for some people, especially people in recovery. They can call me.” Kain will respond to voice mail left at 564-1280 or <a href="mailto:lkain@mayohospital.com">lkain@mayohospital.com</a>. For more about the Healthy Acadia Recovery Coach Program, visit <a href="https://healthyacadia.org/">healthyacadia.org</a>. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper article Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Recovery Services Continue During COVID Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grant, Sheila D. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-05-01 Subject The topic of the resource Kain, Libby Northern Light Mayo Hospital (Dover-Foxcroft, Me.) Healthy Acadia Recovery Coach Program Community health services Substance abuse COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Piscataquis County (Me.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creator retains copyright. Item may be used for noncommercial purposes under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Gazette Inc. (Dexter, Me.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Eastern Gazette, Vol. 168, No. 18 Language A language of the resource Eng Description An account of the resource Getting a new program started can be challenging enough without running into a pandemic during early days. Libby Kain was hired as Recovery Coach Site Coordinator for Piscataquis County in December, working through Mayo Regional Hospital (now Northern Light Mayo Hospital). The program uses recovery-positive messaging, provides support and tries to assist individuals in recovery by “helping to remove obstacles and barriers to recovery, by motivating and mentoring, encouraging them, by educating the community, and advocating for [those in or seeking recovery].” Type The nature or genre of the resource Text 2020 Community Health Isolation Mayo Hospital Recovery Well-being https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/51500/archive/files/ed540daecd09a82c48e09fb7f7d84ef2.PNG?Expires=1779926400&Signature=ggTyBzB1OkQMk3XiUKiHF9EHU8T7TiAnQobDQDh9iTkd-b4vkIdObU7vy2VoWyOimfWyZZeDvFtt4OJ6xh-nwpljOO7rZMyyyb-x2hQMLFUKT81Pgz58QXk4UgFfWJs50hCKXOsTkkaH97vp8DhWI9ZFRGp7%7EIjmi3gdOdHrA1nLuzh%7EX%7EC-h37VK%7EDJW-ibRAF0CkuPiiZlOZJf-FtQyQnFfk7O2E18ev7HLPvubQucRbtUjWlC90h3ingq4pM9ICu4910HgCRQzXTiozhVfFmN2hkYCq2IGlaaC%7EFp-Tr1NBz7PWOq9aWiub1oG40-p%7Ecj7us-zJbs0SZuzZiFug__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 5fa0a162eef394ef9597128bd0d1eec8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergency Archive Description An account of the resource Writing, images, recordings, and other materials documenting life in Central Maine during the COVID-19 pandemic and other historic events that have impacted our communities. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 2021 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Penobscot County (Me.) Piscataquis County (Me.) Somerset County (Me.) Subject The topic of the resource Communities COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hartland Public Library (Hartland, Me.) Newport Cultural Center (Newport, Me.) Pittsfield Public Library (Pittsfield, Me.) Skowhegan Free Public Library (Skowhegan, Me.) Thompson Free Library (Dover-Foxcroft, Me.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Text of your story ST ALBANS – When Agnes Totherow, 82, contacted The Eastern Gazette on April 9, she was frightened, in pain and frustrated! Agnes, who lives alone, has needed a hip replacement for months. She’s been in too much pain to leave the house over the winter, to sleep well, or even to stand with her walker long enough to cook for herself. And because of the COVID-19 risks, her surgery, scheduled for March, was postponed to April. Now that’s been postponed, too. “Dear God, I hurt,” Agnes said. “I walk from my chair to the kitchen and I’m in such agony!” Compounding her worries is that she tried to get Meals on Wheels – and landed on a waiting list. Her daughter, who lives nearby, picks up her groceries, as well as doing her own errands and those of another elderly family member. Neither woman has a lot of gas money, according to Agnes, plus she hates to see her daughter out there risking infection. “I’m worried for my young’un,” said Agnes. “She can’t stay long. She’s in and out, afraid of infecting me or anybody else.” Agnes spends a lot of time “yelling at the TV,” she said. “I have to just sit here and suffer, but that’s not my problem. My problem is, I see these people out running around. Do they not understand they need to stay in? Is there something somebody can do to make these people stay in, for the people like me that need medical help and can’t get it [until COVID-19 restrictions are lifted]? Please make these people understand!” So to be clear, throughout Maine and our nation, there are people going without surgeries and preventative care they need until we have successfully flattened the curve enough for medical practices to return to normal. And there are elderly people with limited resources stuck in their homes, worried for their families and having a hard time paying for the food and medications they need, or the gas to fetch them. Some of those people aren’t physically up to cooking meals. And many of those people are experiencing loneliness and anxiety. Staying safe at home and practicing the recommended hygiene when we must go out is vital. The longer it takes to flatten the curve, the longer it will be before we can get back to whatever our new normal is – and folks like Agnes can get what is certainly essential healthcare to them. In the meantime, check on your neighbors, and learn what resources might be available to help meet any needs. A call to the St. Albans Town Office proved helpful. Town Clerk Charlin Williams knows Agnes, and said she is “a sweet lady.” Williams planned to contact Meals on Wheels to see what might be done to move Agnes up the waiting list, and to invite a friend from church to take turns dropping meals at Agnes’s door now and then. A call to the local town office is a good place to start when searching for resources, Williams said. Many communities have service clubs or volunteer groups trying to help out at this time. In St. Albans, Hartland, Palmyra and Ripley, for example, the Hartland-St. Albans Lions Club agreed at their last meeting, nearly two months ago, to transport food to the homes of individuals or families who are self-quarantined due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis in the household. “We are not offering to [pay for] the food for people, but to help them by bringing it to the door and leaving it there,” explained Robert Davids, president of the local Lions Club. The club will grocery shop, and also pick up boxes from food cupboards for delivery. Agnes didn’t fit the criteria, but that didn’t stop Davids from giving her a call, and then delivering groceries paid for out of his own pocket, when Williams told him about her plight. “I don’t really know why but we haven’t gotten any calls, until I got the call from the town office yesterday about this lady in St. Albans,” Davids said. “I haven’t met her face to face. I called her and found out what sorts of things would help get her though the weekend, then went to Moosehead Market for microwave meals, milk, peanut butter and other items she suggested might be helpful. She asked me to leave them on a chair at the top of the ramp, because she can’t bend down enough to pick them up. This is not what the Lions were planning on doing, but I had the chance to help her out myself, so I bought the food and took it to her.” And in a more roundabout search for resources, The Eastern Gazette reached out to a volunteer group in the Dover-Foxcroft area involving a partnership between The Commons at Central Hall, Helping Hands with Heart, and United Way. Dr. Lesley Fernow, who is heading up efforts to organize grocery/prescription deliveries in that area, called Agnes herself, and also planned to connect Agnes with a United Way volunteer in Palmyra who had offered to call shut-ins during this time of isolation. “I was so down that day, it was terrible,” Agnes said during a follow-up call on April 13. Having lost power for three days, Agnes risked going to stay with her daughter until the lights were back on. “And I got some sleep last night,” she said, sounding more chipper. “I also got to thinking, there are other souls out there in worse shape than I am that need help,” she said. “I’m just praying for them and asking God to hurry up and get this mess over with!” Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper article Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Check On Your Neighbors; They May Not Be Okay Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grant, Sheila D. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-17 Subject The topic of the resource Neighbors Totherow, Agnes Older people--Care COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Newspapers Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant St Albans (Me.) Somerset County (Me.) Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creator retains copyright. Item may be used for noncommercial purposes under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Gazette Inc. (Dexter, Me.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Eastern Gazette, Vol. 168, No. 16 Language A language of the resource Eng Description An account of the resource Agnes Totherow, age 82, lives alone and has needed a hip replacement for months. Throughout Maine and our nation, there are people with limited resources stuck in their homes, worried for their families and having a hard time paying for the food and medications they need, or the gas to fetch them. Writer Sheila Grant encourages readers to check on their neighbors, and to learn what resources might be available to help. 2020 Caring Community Health Connection Isolation Neighbors Stay-at-Home https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/51500/archive/files/faab77b7df73e701a9bd5bc552b12268.pdf?Expires=1779926400&Signature=UTrLX%7ExLDYwv9bTRyhOcakIyZ4kw934xaWlIRT-wxAQvRGTE-xawEpxMmqjT5Emgv2up-nudAIpZjtleCsBK-dKOuHJ8eiZoLs-fwAiMlCaf6SavhJdYsCTzEx8uHwf-0q1mDDDfM0E2Z%7EOkCeBiyfZ2iXNTCXvgfONcej2BkqAi4t%7Ee5Y5WYhLpT6e5aYUUZMC1NSO0I9Q7mjMy9lrjBWadQN1n8GabJfvaz2r3P5lcI9tIXoJLWOqnT3ToSsIuYypckUz8I0ITQV7cFkylJxXKyUl82SG9yiY5zgsi-9j8snZXyogOfEkMjyOq5V9djBXwWmf3n9cTbRQhwsorUw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 59cd5239f7400a6c46d1c3d8ec3558de Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emergency Archive Description An account of the resource Writing, images, recordings, and other materials documenting life in Central Maine during the COVID-19 pandemic and other historic events that have impacted our communities. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 2021 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Penobscot County (Me.) Piscataquis County (Me.) Somerset County (Me.) Subject The topic of the resource Communities COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hartland Public Library (Hartland, Me.) Newport Cultural Center (Newport, Me.) Pittsfield Public Library (Pittsfield, Me.) Skowhegan Free Public Library (Skowhegan, Me.) Thompson Free Library (Dover-Foxcroft, Me.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Text of your story Blob or Duck? The talk these days is all about restarting the economy as the “curve” of infections from Corona Virus plateaus. The acts of social isolation we have all practiced in the last weeks have clearly had an impact, and those in positions to make decisions about the next chapter in this epic saga are ready to begin taking some action. I don’t know if I will be following orders yet or not. I have always had a rebellious streak, and don’t think I’m going to begin cooperating just now. My life here in Maine has not changed dramatically since everything closed. But how I feel about participating in the new “afterlife” has many interesting facets, some emotional some logical. One question no one seems able to answer for me yet is whether I am a “blob” or a “duck”. This is very frightening. Fear. That is the thing that is driving my decision making. Fear. I can’t imagine what the people making larger decisions; whether we should continue to stay home or venture back out into society, the decisions that decide the fate of so many others, are feeling. FEAR. And decisions based on fear are often not logical. For example my inner rebel has decided that evenings alone in my lovely Victorian living room are quite comfortable. Afternoons spent alone in my yard or on my small deck, enjoyable. Mornings eating breakfast alone with Wallace the Airedale are quite cozy. I don’t need to be reunited with the world as it was before the current shut down. I am happy, or at least content in my own little world, rich in the mental stimulation that an overactive imagination gives me. My brain entertains me in these isolated times. But I only make decisions for myself, and that is probably a good thing, because sometimes I get a little carried away. Staying home feels good, but I’m not fooling myself, staying home is what I am doing because I am afraid. Something that I learned about myself a long time ago, perhaps something that I’ve always known about ME is that I think in images. I don’t think in words. That isn’t to say that I don’t love words and use words in ways that sometimes turn out to be beautiful, but words are just tools for me to use to illustrate the images I see in my mind. So as we start thinking about rebooting our society, the images that I am trying to translate into words about how I feel about shifting back to being part of the pulsing crowd of our culture, are of two things. The first vivid image is of that awful Corona Virus blob that is on every screen flashed across my vision. You know the one. It is the floating gray orb with red fuzzy arms all over it seen on newscasts of late, everywhere. I see it behind my eyelids when I am drifting off to sleep and I see it every time I open my laptop or flick on my television. The second image that haunts me, I see in my minds eye only. It is a line of “sitting ducks”. The image is of the type of mechanical ducks one finds at a shooting gallery on a carnival midway being moved across one’s vision on a clunking conveyor belt. This game of hit or miss at carnivals and fairs is played with an air rifle. Bright yellow ducks with small bulls eyes on there sides clink across my inner vision with one occasionally being knocked backward to fall over with a loud ringing bell signalling its demise. In my imagination the duck is a victim of a viral bullet being shot from one of the red, evil arms on a virus blob floating around the midway of my active and awake 3 a.m. brain. Strange images these two. And when I am continuously seeing them together in my mind, in many different scenarios, they become part of my current reality. For example, in my limited repertoire of present day social experiences, AKA grocery shopping, the blob comes towards me, going in the WRONG direction through the market. It is just one big virus germ, gray with red fuzzy bulb ended arms sticking out all over it, ready to attack me. I am the sitting duck, mindlessly walking in the RIGHT direction up my less than 6 foot wide grocery store aisle. I have nothing to protect me as I am thrust through the world on this conveyor belt of activities pulling me through life. I am literally a target for all viral infections to shed themselves on. There is no protection for my innocent, and insecure feathered body. I am the sitting duck. In reality that virus blob I imagine walking toward me is just a nice middle aged woman, a bit on the plumb side in yoga pants and a gray hoodie, with no noticeable red appendages reaching their viral infection toward my masked face. But I am a visual thinker, my mind won’t leave me alone, those virus blobs turn up everywhere in the grocery store. Just look at them on the face of Uncle Ben as I pick out a box of rice, on the Quaker Oats guy, I’m sure I see some virus molecules on his benevolent smile. The Daisy Sour Cream cow, she’s shedding virus all over the dairy case, and don’t get me started on what those pesky Rice Krispies guys are up to in the cereal aisle. The virus is everywhere, and us ducks, we just keep going along on our mechanical treadmill, looking for toilet paper and baking yeast. In reality I’m not even sure that I am one of the ducks. With no sure test of my Corona Virus status and my active imagination hyper aware of every sniffle, cough, snort, ache, pain or toot coming out of my body, could I be one of the virus firing blobs? My mind takes a nasty turn, and suddenly I am the malevolent viral threat. My body, unbeknownst to me begins attacking the people I have contact with. They become the sitting ducks and I am the viral shooter on the carnival midway. As the shut down begins to be lifted, those sitting ducks become the people I love. My sons, whom I haven’t seen since winter could be shot from one of my red spikes with the horrible germ that doesn’t win any of us a stuffed animal from the carnival. My mom in her assisted living apartment is on a mechanical conveyor belt set at high with virus bullets aimed at the stream of elderly ducks she is caught in, trying to get across the carnival booth with their walkers. Virus orbs are lobbed at them with lightning speed and laser precision. How do we keep the virus blobs away from these lovely gray haired sitting ducks? How do we keep those floating orbs of poison away from our daily life as it conveys us from task to task on a path that each of us is so firmly attached to following? The old normal is no longer a safe ride for any of us to take a spin on. When these two images of ducks and blobs are no longer crossing my mind at odds with one another, when sitting ducks are no longer being aimed at and targeted by that surge of virus lobbing asassins, I will be ready to go back out into the world. If I must enter that world as either a duck or an attacking blob, the least I expect is that someone can help me distinguish which one of them I am. I assume that eventually that will happen through wide spread testing, contact tracing or an antibody test that says when my immune system will shield me from attacking blobs if I am one of the unfortunate targeted ducks. Until I am sure which image defines me, I am staying isolated from that midway we call life and remaining here at home. My visual brain will be working in my unclassified body, in my safe comfortable house, actively fighting imagined battles between blobs and ducks, and I will not be going out to the carnival. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Re-entering the Corona Carnival Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Maves, Janice Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-17 Subject The topic of the resource Viruses Social isolation Fear Creative writing COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Creator retains copyright. Item may be used for noncommercial purposes under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. Description An account of the resource An essay by Janice Maves. Language A language of the resource Eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Maine 2020 Fear Isolation Stay-at-Home Storytelling Writing