Great Falls Forum with Maine Wabanaki REACH

Our March Great Falls Forum will feature Penthea Burns, Co-Director of Maine Wabanaki REACH, along with REACH Community Organizer Barbara Kates speaking on “Truth, Healing and Change: Why Maine Needed a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.” This program will take place in LPL’s Callahan Hall on Thurs., March 16 at 12 noon.

Maine-Wabanaki REACH advances Wabanaki self-determination by strengthening the cultural, spiritual and physical well-being of Native people in Maine. The group envisions a future where Maine and Wabanaki people join together, acknowledging truth, promoting healing and creating change.

REACH (Reconciliation-Engagement-Advocacy-Change-Healing) began as a collaboration of state and tribal child welfare workers who knew from their work together that children, families, and communities need truth, healing and change. REACH initiated the Maine Wabanaki State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission and supported the Commission as it worked in Wabanaki and Maine communities.

In this Forum presentation, Burns and Kates will talk about the founding of REACH and discuss the historical treatment of Native children which led to the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. One can read the Commission’s findings and recommendations, which inform and guide REACH’s work and vision for the future.

The Great Falls Forum is a monthly, brown-bag speaker series featuring statewide and regional leaders in public policy, business, academia and the arts. The programs are free, open to all and no reservations are required. Coffee, tea and bottled water are provided for a donation at the event. The Forum is a co-sponsorship of the Sun Journal, Bates College and LPL.

For more information, contact LPL Adult & Teen Services at (207) 513-3135 or LPLReference@Gmail.com.