All of the Resilience Matters to ME messages were developed by community members living and working in and around the Oxford Hills area of Oxford County, Maine. The project focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and resiliency. Together, the group learned important information about the health effects of ACEs and produced locally relevant messages. They worked together to answer these questions:

• • Who in our community needs to know about these topics?
  • What do they need to know?
  • What’s the best way to share information about what we want them to know?

Over a period of 18 months, between December 2020 and the summer of 2022, the group met to brainstorm and develop the answers to these questions. They picked out the ideas that they felt were most important to share and came up with the language to share those ideas. Working with a wonderful local graphic designer, the messages were transformed into all sorts of different materials to carry the messages: banners, yard signs, placements, window clings and more. All the materials pointed people here, to the website, where the group hoped folks could learn more and be connected to helpful resources.

Our community members represent a deep understanding of local culture. Together, their wisdom and perspective shaped these important messages. Deep gratitude goes out each and every one of them for the time and attention they contributed to this project:

• • Katey Branch
  • Bobbi Burke
  • Carolyn Burns
  • Sarah Carter
  • Jenn Chafin
  • Tracy Chute
  • Beth Clarke
  • Carl Costanzi
  • Rocky Crockett
  • Emma DayBranch
  • Lisa Keisman
  • Charlotte Lebel
  • Anne Sheehan
  • Carolyn Sullivan
  • Matt Sunday
  • Melissa Wakefield
  • Louisa Westleigh

The project used a process called Boot Camp Translation which was developed by the High Plains Research Network in Colorado. This project was facilitated by Lisbeth Balligan at the MaineHealth Institute for Research and Brendan Schauffler of Healthy Oxford Hills. Emma DayBranch served as the project evaluator and Neil Korsen provided guidance and project oversight, both also work at the MaineHealth Institute for Research as part of the Northern New England Clinical Translational Research Network. We are grateful to our project funders, the NNE-CTR Community Engagement and Outreach Core (contract U54GM115516), Tufts CTSI NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award (UL1TR002544) and the Bingham Program.

Our local newspaper, the Advertiser-Democrat, ran a “Power of Resilence” series that profiled local community members and their stories of resilience.

Click the links below to find the articles online:

• • Katey
  • Darlene
  • Kari
  • Brendan

We got the chance to talk about this project, and why we feel it’s so important, on the “Community…What a Concept” podcast. You can listen to the episode here.