Working Communities Challenge

Our Goal: To develop a collaborative approach by way of a diverse partnership to raise Washington County and Passamaquoddy Tribal families out of poverty.

The Working Community Challenge: Washington County & Passamaquoddy Tribe Team is a partner driven, innovative, and collaborative approach to reach a goal that no single organization or entity can do on their own.  Although our strategy of how we reach our goal has changed several times, and will continue to evolve as our learning evolves, our original goal remains the same. Specifically, our team seeks to reduce poverty in families with children in Washington County and the Passamaquoddy Tribe by 50% in ten years.

As we move through this project, it has become clear that fostering and developing a working relationship with the Passamaquoddy Tribal partners is paramount to our success. We are hard pressed to find this type of collaborative relationship with the Passamaquoddy Tribal partners anywhere else in Washington County.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston launched the Working Community Challenge to help local partnerships accomplish goals that will help build strong, economically healthy, rural communities and regions in Maine.

Matt Dana, Director of Working Communities Challenge

GET IN TOUCH

For questions about the Working Community Challenge, please contact Matt Dana, Working Communities Partnership Director

Office: 207-255-0983
Direct: 207-259-0809 

Email: mdana@sunrisecounty.org

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THE PASSAMAQUODDY ASH BASKET

The Passamaquoddy ash basket was adopted as the analogy for our framework for the work ahead. A basket consists of the base of “standers” held together by “weavers”. We see each organization and party as the “standers” that form the structure, or basket, for our work together. The work we do to achieve our goal are the “weavers” which hold our partners together, ultimately creating a basket that holds our Washington County and Passamaquoddy families in economic stability by reducing poverty.

WORKING COMMUNITIES CHALLENGE PARTNERS

The WCC team consists of cross sector partners throughout Washington County, including the Passamaquoddy Tribal Governments at Indian Township and Sipayik. Sunrise County Economic Council (SCEC) is the backbone, administrative organization for the project, and employs the full-time Partnership Director, Matt Dana. Nonprofits involved on the WCC steering commitee are SCEC, Community Caring Collaborative, Washington County Community College, AMHC, Healthy Acadia, Maine Department of Labor, the Washington County Manager, and Machias Savings Bank.

We meet monthly to discuss our progress and develop our work plan with the various partners.

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