The Community Caring Collaborative
- Program Representative Interviewed: Charley Martin-Berry, Executive Director
- Location: East Machias, Maine
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Program Overview: The Community Caring
Collaborative (CCC) was developed in 2007 with 2 goals: addressing health challenges that
children and young families face, and regular meetings aimed at increasing access to existing resources for
participants. CCC aims to support and foster
collaboration in the community as a way to build capacity and improve health and well-being for
residents. To address SDOH, CCC is committed to removing barriers and building family assets in
an effort to increase opportunities for people in the community. To help agency partners that are working
with children and families, CCC provides access to flexible funds to help reduce barriers that clients face.
Barrier removal may include basic tasks such as fixing a participant's car so that they can drive
to a class. CCC also provides training and technical assistance for partners to increase understanding about
the impacts of SDOH. Finally, the CCC incubates programs by helping to build a responsive design to an
issue, and assembling the right partners to build out and sustain the program.
Two CCC-incubated programs include Family Futures Downeast and the Bridging Program. Family Futures Downeast is an intensive one-year program that uses a two-generation approach. The program provides educational and employment experiences to parents with young children while simultaneously offering programming for the children. The Bridging Program uses a promising approach that connects an Infant Family Support Specialist with high-risk pregnant women and families who have children with high needs. CCC also tailored the evidence-based Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation model for a rural setting in a program called Early Childhood Consultation and Outreach (ECCO).