Emerge Maine

Right now, too many Mainers are unemployed or underemployed because they are not equipped with the skills businesses need. Hard work is built into Maine people, but workers need access to an education that will allow them to compete in the modern economy.

The number of available jobs is rising as our economy continues recovering from the recent recession. Unfortunately, too many Maine workers do not have the skills necessary to fill these positions. An estimated 3,863 Maine jobs will go unfilled between now and 2018, according to a report by Southern Maine Community College.

There is no doubt that Emerge Maine board member Andrew Roth-Wells has done his fair share of jumping around in the political world.From running a congressional campaign in New York to working on Congresswoman Chellie Pingree’s 2002 U.S. Senate campaign to working on various economic and social justice issues with advocacy organizations, Roth-Wells has seen all sides of progressive politics.

A Harvard University study notes that medical expenses are one of the most common reasons cited when a person files for bankruptcy. In fact, 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies are filed because of huge medical debt.

Emerge Maine is very pleased to announce the recent graduation of the amazing women of our Class of 2013.

We are all unique.  Our childhoods, our experiences, our fear and joys, they are all our own.  Yet when we tell the stories and share the emotions we felt in those times, they resonate far and wide and our differences melt away.  We are all unique which in turn makes us all the same.  It is in this paradox that we empathize and mobilize, together.

These are times that need and require people to be involved in politics and government policies. There are many issues at both the state and national level that effect the most vulnerable people of our society. We need to ensure that children, the disabled and the elderly have the necessities required to live and be safe in their lives.

I recently saw the movie Lincoln and was deeply moved by it.  This astonishing man persuaded Congress to support the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, with his conviction, even while quietly buying votes by offering plum jobs to Democratic lawmakers. Quite a Machiavellian move from the man we nickname Honest Abe!  Lincoln was a ferocious fighter, but he was also brilliant at finding common ground and getting things done.

Melanie Sachs and Kristina Egan, two members of the current Emerge Maine class have one thing in common: they both serve on the Freeport Town Council.  They took slightly different paths to become elected officials and Emergistas. But both of their journeys involved an Emerge Maine alum, Sara Gideon, class of 2012.

The Orchestra of Emerge………….

Recently I joined an orchestra.   To some this may seem like no big deal, but for me, it was.   I started playing the flute when I was in the 4th grade.   I continued through high school and then in college I took some jazz courses.  I continued to play here and there throughout my post college adventures, and then I didn’t really  picked it up again until I needed a fine arts credit for graduate school.