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About Maine Recovery Advocacy Project
The Maine Recovery Advocacy Project (ME-RAP) is a grassroots network of people across our state working to redefine and reimagine justice, access, connection, and recovery in our state laws, county policies, municipal ordinances, schools, workplaces, and in our daily lives. ME-RAP is committed to giving people in recovery, people who use drugs, family members, and recovery allies the organizing tools to think and act locally.
2022 - 2023
Platform
In community with people directly and indirectly impacted by addiction, recovery, overdose, and the war on drugs, the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project developed our state-wide platform. Everything we do and advocate for comes from the grassroots up. We do this by listening to our community and are committed to ensuring that our work is centered on the needs of real Maine people. Our community includes people with lived or living experience of substance use, including people in recovery, people who use drugs, people impacted by mass incarceration, justice impacted people, people harmed by the drug war, young people, family members, and our allies.
We are imagining a Maine where every person has what they need to enter and sustain recovery, whatever that means for that person. The Maine Recovery Advocacy Project stands with policies and policymakers that work to redefine and reimagine justice, access, connection, and recovery by:
2020 - 2021
Platform
In community with people directly and indirectly impacted by addiction, recovery, overdose, and the war on drugs, the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project developed our state-wide platform. Everything we do and advocate for comes from the grassroots up. We do this by listening to our community and are committed to ensuring that our work is centered on the needs of real Maine people. Our community includes people in recovery, people who use drugs, family members, and all of our allies.
We are imagining a Maine where every person has what they need to enter and sustain recovery, whatever that means for that person. The Maine Recovery Advocacy Project stands with policies and policymakers that work to redefine and reimagine justice, access, connection, and recovery by:
- Restructuring drug sentencing laws
- Protecting our community from those providing fraudulent, subpar, or questionable practices and services.
- Centering recovery in the justice system
- Increasing funding for treatment, education, employment, harm reduction, recovery housing, and housing first models, reentry services, and family and recovery support services
- Encouraging non-discriminatory access to recovery housing for people in medication-assisted treatment
- Expanding grassroots recovery community organizations to every county in Maine
- Lowering the cost of phone calls in Maine jails and prisons to ensure that families can remain connected to their loved ones
- Educating the public that recovery is an asset in our communities
- Openly sharing stories of personal, family, and community recovery
- Meaningfully engaging our community in decisions that impact us
- Humanizing recovery through person-centered language and images
- Celebrating recovery as any positive change
Stand Up For Recovery!
ME-RAP Statewide Organizing Team
The ME-RAP Statewide Organizing Team is responsible to host listening sessions, set the statewide organizing platform and legislative priorities, support statewide organizing efforts of allied organizers/organizations, and help to plan community events, like Black Balloon Day! The Statewide Organizing Team meets every Monday at 1pm. Please reach out to [email protected] if you would like to get involved.
Maine Drug Policy Coalition
The Maine Drug Policy Coalition is composed of grassroots organizers and allied organizations and led by people who have been harmed by the drug war. We work together to support drug policies in Maine that are based on science, guided by public health principles, and are respectful of human rights for all. The Coalition meets every Thursday at Noon and is open to all who support the work! Please reach out to [email protected] if you would like to get involved.
ME-RAP Youth Caucus
(Kennebec/Washington/Andro County)
The ME-RAP Youth Caucus is led by young people who are either in recovery themselves, love someone in recovery, have lost someone to overdose, or are practicing harm reduction in their own lives. We currently have teams in Kennebec, Washington, and Androscoggin County. Each of the teams are a little different because what each community needs is different! But together they are planning food drives, community events, talking about legislative efforts, and they filmed a movie! If you have or are a young person who wants to get involved, please reach out to one of the youth allies listed below.
ME-RAP Inclusivity Caucus
The ME-RAP Inclusivity Caucus centers the voices of BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and people with different mental and physical abilities in the recovery community by ensuring their voices are represented at policy-making tables in Maine, co-creating inclusive spaces throughout Maine’s recovery community and hosting and promoting multicultural events to educate and build community across cultures. If you are interested in getting involved and identify as a member of the BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, or someone with a different mental or physical abilities, please reach out to the chair of the caucus at [email protected]
Get involved. Make a difference.
To make meaningful local changes, it takes many organizations and passionate people working together. It takes people like you! Discover how you can get involved, volunteer, and take immediate action today in the Action Center.
Learn and Connect with a Statewide Network
We currently have organizers situated across the state of Maine working to redefine and reimagine justice, access, connection, and recovery in their communities. We are always looking for more advocates to join our team! Sign up to join our team!
Connect with Us
Our Team
Courtney Gary-Allen, Maine Organizing Director, [email protected]
Steven Knockwood, Maine Inclusivity Caucus Chair,
[email protected]
Deidrah Stanchfield, Kennebec County Youth Ally, [email protected]
Joe Finnemore, Washington County Youth Ally, [email protected]
Tiana Warriner, Androscoggin County Youth Ally, [email protected]
Have a question? Need more information? Interested in volunteering with us but not sure where to begin? Send us an email and an organizer will get in touch with you!