This month MECASA is welcoming two new staff to our team, Melissa Martin and Marion Hylan Barr. They both will be working closely with MECASA's Executive Director, Elizabeth Saxl on public policy work, systems change advocacy, and many other projects. I know Marion and Melissa are both looking forward to meeting all of you and in the meantime, you can learn more about them by reading their bios below!

Melissa (she/her) is excited to be joining MECASA as the Public Policy and Legal Director. Melissa previously worked at Pine Tree Legal Assistance as a staff attorney representing sexual assault and domestic violence survivors for seven years. Before attending law school, Melissa worked as an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn, New York. In her role at MECASA, she strives to make sure survivors' voices and experiences are heard and considered in public policy and legislative work. She is thrilled to be part of the interdisciplinary team at MECASA working to end sexual violence and support violence prevention and response. Outside of this work, Melissa spends a lot of time mediating disputes between her 13-year-old cat Olive and 8-month-old puppy Lark. She also loves exploring her new home in Bath (and constantly working on house and garden projects) with her partner Will, who teaches at Central Maine Community College.

You can reach Melissa by emailing her at martin@mecasa.org

Marion (she/her) joins MECASA after working for many years at the Maine Legislature as a legislative analyst for the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee and as director of the Office of Policy & Legal Analysis. During her time at the Legislature, she worked with MECASA and many other organizations and stakeholders drafting legislation, working with study commissions to draft various reports, and supporting the work of legislators in developing law and policy. Marion has always had great respect for the leadership and mission of MECASA and is excited to bring her legislative and public policy experience to support the MECASA team. When she is not working, Marion enjoys x-country skiing, reading and spending time near the closest body of water.

You can reach Marion by emailing her at marion@mecasa.org

We have added a new section to the MECASA Toolkit titled "Crisis Intervention & Mental Health." This page has tools, resources, as well as, recordings of the MECASA Mental Health Training Series.

Bookmark the MECASA Toolkit! mecasatoolkit.org

We have updated our "Ask a MECASA Friend" guide to include some of the new staff we have hired this year.

Check out the new doc here.

MECASA hosts role-specific, optional Peer Support Calls via Zoom. These calls are designed to connect staff throughout the state, share ideas, and stay up-to-date on resources. The schedule lives on the toolkit as well!

And if you miss a call, we've started including the notes on the toolkit and linked with the call info below.

Contact: Kayce

Open to all center staff

Call info sheet & Call notes

July 19 | 1:00pm-2:00pm

Topic: SAFE Accompaniments

Contact: Jessica

Contact: Katie K 

July 21st | 8:15am-10:00am

Contact: Annette

Contact: Annette

Weekly on Thursdays | 9:00a -10:30a

Contact: Jess

July (no peer call - happy summer!)

Contact: Katie C or Lisa 

Wednesday, August 24th and Thursday, August 25th

9am-12pm both days

MECASA has contracted with Nancy Ansheles (M.Ed., Catalyst & Co., www.nkacatalyst.com) to host a training on meeting facilitation skills. This training is aimed at supporting advocates in building their meeting facilitation skills for the wide range of meetings that advocates are responsible for. Whether you are facilitating MDT's, SART's, staff meetings, workshops, or anything in between, this training is for you.

Registration is now open! Click here to register

This foundational training provided an overview of the grant landscape, directed attendees towards tools to engage in grant seeking, gave an overview of common grant components, and offered some concrete tips for grant writing. We were joined by Morgan Hynd from The Bingham Program and Kimberly Crichton from Maine Women’s Fund for a Q&A about the foundation landscape in Maine. We are planning a part 2 in the fall that focuses on federal discretionary grants, so stay tuned!

Ahmen Cabral and Shannon Saxby of the Catherine Cutler Institute presented on the core principles of the empowerment-based approach to working with youth who are in or have experienced foster care.

The Maine Association of Nonprofits is hosting many webinars and events that may be useful to sexual assault center staff and volunteers. Here are a few that we wanted to highlight:

Check out their page here for the entire list.

SAFE Course Information Registration is open for Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Courses for the Fall. Attached are the flyers with links to register.

Both courses will be held virtually via Zoom.

Click here for the flier

8:00 - 5:00 EST via Zoom

Click here for the flier

If you would like to attend either course and have taken them before, the registration fee is waived!

For more information reach out to Amanda Blake @ amanda.blake@maine.gov

Friday, August 26 from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m

Register here: https://forms.office.com/r/s5rpGxFLcA

• Identify the 3 primary reasons women become incarcerated.

• Discuss the role domestic violence and other forms of interpersonal violence play in the histories of incarcerated women.

• Explain current mental health services available for women while incarcerated.

September 15th

Save the date! This quarterly will be taking a look at stalking. We will hear from a survivor of stalking, Maine police, a Maine attorney, and advocates. There are two ways to attend, live at UNE or virtual via zoom from 9am-4pm (times subject to change)

For more information contact Shaun Johnson @ sjohnson@une.edu

August 17, 2022 – August 19, 2022

10:00 AM-7:00 PM ET

NSAC is an annual conference that brings together more than 1,500 people to share information, advance learning opportunities, and support professional growth to those who work to address the needs of survivors of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse, to raise awareness about these issues, and to prevent them from happening.

With the issue of sexual assault garnering more attention than ever before in the last 40 years, this conference takes place at a time when it is necessary to highlight the solutions toward ending sexual violence.

This year’s conference, through the theme, “Embracing Intersectionality,” seeks to uplift the role we all have in creating safe and equitable communities. PCAR considers racial justice critical to the movement to address and end sexual violence. We will only be successful in ending sexual violence when we examine and dismantle all forms of oppression.

Our 3-day, all virtual event is sure to be a great way to join with peers and colleagues in learning about our roles as advocates and influencers in our communities. With 7 workshop sessions led by various social justice experts and leaders, several exhibits to explore, and opportunities for networking, this will certainly be a conference you don’t want to miss. Furthermore, as a benefit to signing up as a participant for NSAC 2022, you will also have access to the recorded sessions!

Registration closes on August 15, 2022. Early registration closes on August 1, and participants who register on or before August 1, 2022, will receive a $30 discount.

NNEDV is a leading voice for domestic violence victims and their advocates. As a membership and advocacy organization of state domestic violence coalitions, allied organizations, and supportive individuals, NNEDV works closely with its members to understand the ongoing and emerging needs of domestic violence victims and advocacy programs. Then NNEDV makes sure those needs are heard and understood by policymakers at the national level and woven into our other signature projects.

October 6-8, 2022   St. Louis, MO

Every year, through workshops and plenaries, NTI trains crime responders to be victim-centered, culturally competent, and trauma-informed. This conference is open to service providers, law enforcement, policymakers, educators, healthcare providers, community leaders, and other allied professionals.

Through workshops on a wide range of topics, attendees examine the impact of crime on communities and find new ways to work together toward a safer, more compassionate future.

This summary highlights key findings and prevention implications from the CDC's sexual violence survey data published in the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) 2016/2017 Report on Sexual Violence.