by maineseacoast | Jul 23, 2020 | COVID-19 Updates, Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
Douglas Cornman meets with students on Frenchboro in 2018.
www.islandinstitute.org
July 22, 2020
The Sunbeam holds its course
OUT OF THE WATER AND ONLINE, MAINE SEACOAST MISSION’S CONTINUES
By Frances Mize
Built in 1995 and operated now by the Bar Harbor-based Maine Seacoast Mission, the 75-foot long, steel-hulled Sunbeam V clears harbors of ice in the winter months, and in all seasons serves as a place of fellowship and communion for those unbridged islands of Maine that support year-round populations.
Douglas Cornman, director of island outreach, whose work ranges from leading worship services to arranging an anthology of creative works from the islands, notes that “the boat’s never locked, the coffee is always hot. Folks are welcome on board, and we’ll just sit and chat.”
While the rest of the world struggles to fall into the rhythms of Zoom meetings and a life wrenched online, this sort of digital connection is nothing new for the Sunbeam. In addition to serving as a space for community, telemedicine equipment aboard the ship ensures that islanders have access to quality, reliable healthcare.
Director of Island Health Services Sharon Daley travels to the islands and performs routine checkups herself, but islanders are also put in touch via video call with physicians and mental healthcare providers on the mainland.
Full story
by maineseacoast | Jul 22, 2020 | COVID-19 Updates, Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Thank You Thursday
It’s Thank you Thursday and today’s shout out of Mission Love goes to the Area Interfaith Outreach Pantry and Emergency Services.
AIO was started 30 years ago by a group of congregations in the Midcoast who came together around the idea of creating a supportive place for Knox County residents who need of food or energy assistance to go.
When Covid-19 prompted much less to-and-from traveling to Maine’s unbridged islands, AIO worked with Maine Seacoast Mission and Penobscot Island Air to keep the North Haven and Matinicus Island Food Pantries restocked and residents in need fed. When your food pantry is 22 miles at sea from the mainland, fresh food availability is all the more essential.
The Mission Island Health Services Director Sharon Daley said, “AIO and Penobscot Air have gone out of there way to make these food deliveries happen and are willing to think out side the box to do so. When fog came in Penobscot Air had to store the food in their freezers, transport it to a ferry, and load it on a truck. Getting food there is a team effort of AIO, Penobscot Air, and island volunteers.”
The Mission greatly appreciates AIO’s mission to respectfully and compassionately support those in need in Knox County with food and energy assistance.
by maineseacoast | Jul 8, 2020 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
ISLESBORO, ME — Kevin Waters ran Penobscot Air as he did his own life always the best he could do with hard work, respect and love. He expected the same of his employees and that makes Penobscot Air so special. Kevin’s big heart was evident in all he did. His work ethic, kindness and willingness to do what ever it took to make things happen. He gave himself and his love freely and was never afraid to show his emotions, his eyes filled with tears over happy and sad occasions.
He loved the islands and the people and was certainly loved in return. Kevin did so much good that he did quietly because it was the right thing to do and no one ever knew about it. He would be amazed to hear how people are honoring him, he was so humble. Kevin leaves a big hole in our lives, but I think he leaves an even bigger lesson for us as to how we should be, the world would be a better place with more Kevins. To remember Kevin with his great smile, his bear hugs and his “God loves ya you do good work” will always be there for us and many others.
Sharon Daley, RN – Island Health Services Director
Douglas Cornman, MA, BC-DMT – Director of Island Outreach and Chaplain
by maineseacoast | Jun 21, 2020 | COVID-19 Updates, Island Health, Maine Seacoast Mission, News
Screenshot of recent Zoom conference among Island Elder Care group. (Not part of original USDA press release).
Students and Healthcare Services on Maine’s Island Communities Stay Connected
Posted by Timothy P. Hobbs, USDA Rural Development State Director for Maine in Rural Technology
Jun 19, 2020
Maine’s island communities are scattered up and down the coastline, many of them miles out to sea – they’re rural communities carving out a life both in and on the Atlantic Ocean. Despite the distance from the mainland, the educators and healthcare workers in this remote area of the state are dedicated to providing the critical services our island residents depend on and have adapted to the necessary changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the elements of this adaptation has been through the use of telecommunications, and as State Director of USDA Rural Development in Maine, I’m happy our agency has been able to serve as a key partner in bringing this technology to our rural island communities.
Telemedicine…depends on quality broadband connections to provide support to our island communities. For example, Sharon Daley is the nurse for the Maine Seacoast Mission, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of life and wellbeing for residents in Maine’s coastal and island communities. Sharon recently organized a videoconference for residents on the Cranberry Isles, hosting Barbara MacPike, an infectious disease specialist from Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor. Barbara shared current information about COVID-19 and residents were able to ask questions about coronavirus, and get answers to their concerns.
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by maineseacoast | May 31, 2020 | COVID-19 Updates, Food Pantry, Island Health, Maine Seacoast Mission, News
publicnewsservice.org
Nonprofit Gets Creative to Deliver Food to Maine Islands
May 29, 2020
BAR HARBOR, Maine – Demand for emergency food from food pantries is up around 50% in Maine since the COVID-19 outbreak. And when you live on an island, it can be that much harder to get.
The Maine Seacoast Mission has gotten creative to deliver groceries to people on the islands who need them.
They had to stop using their boat for deliveries when the shutdown began in March. Instead, they quickly coordinated with Penobscot Air to fly the food in.
Sharon Daley is the director of Island Health for the Mission, and also an island resident. She describes what many islanders have been facing.
“They’ve got a double issue with food,” says Daley. “First of all, people not working – lobstering being bad, sternmen not being able to earn any income right off. Then, there’s also the issues of getting the food out to the islands.”
The Maine Seacoast Mission also has helped set up food pantries on Matinicus and Frenchboro islands with the support of the Area Interfaith Outreach or ‘AIO’ Food Pantry and the Bar Harbor Food Bank.
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