Support group for family, friends of disabled

BANGOR – A new support group for family members and friends of those with physical disabilities will be held 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, at Alpha One, 1048 Union St. All are welcome to attend.

Maine AIDS Walk 2007

BANGOR – Walk to support. Walk to remember. Walk for the future. Eastern Maine AIDS Network and the Wabanaki Mental Health Association have joined forces to raise funds and awareness of HIV-AIDS with the Bangor area route of the Maine AIDS Walk 2007 on Sunday, Oct. 13.

Organized by Maine Community AIDS Partnership, simultaneous walks will take place with the funds going to local HIV-AIDS organizations and other partnership-identified needs.

The 5K walk begins and ends in front of the Eastern Maine AIDS Network office at 370 Harlow St., proceeding across the State Street bridge to Main Street, Brewer, back across the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge and through downtown Bangor.

Registration begins at 10 a.m. and the walk begins at 11 a.m.

Can’t walk? Volunteers are needed to help with registration and to pass out water and food at the end of the walk.

Donations also are gratefully accepted.

Participants may register online at www.maineaids.org, by picking up a registration form at the AIDS Network office, 370 Harlow St., or at 10 a.m. the day of the walk. There is no fee to participate. Pledges are optional, but encouraged.

For information about Maine AIDS Walk 2007, visit www.maineaids.org, call Suze Howe at 990-3626 or e-mail showeeman@gwi.net.

Eastern Maine AIDS Network was established in 1987 as a grassroots response to the needs of those living with and affected by HIV-AIDS. Eastern Maine AIDS Network is a nonprofit agency that provides a variety of services in eastern and northern Maine.

Its primary goal is to support clients who are living with HIV-AIDS. The agency also provides community and outreach prevention education, as well as HIV antibody testing to the general public. For information, visit www.maineaidsnetwork.com or call toll-free 877-990-3626.

The Wabanaki Mental Health Association is a private nonprofit 501 (c)(3) corporation, which has been operating since June of 1996. Its goal is to serve American Indians from any federally recognized tribe and its mission is to provide the best-quality services which are both psychologically sound and culturally sensitive.

The association provides HIV prevention, counseling and testing to American Indians to reduce the risk of HIV infection. For information, visit www.wabanaki.org or call 990-0605.

UMaine audiologist

ORONO – University of Maine audiologist Amy Booth has spent her career providing hearing services to underserved populations in this country and around the globe. Now, she is going to China as a member of an international team of health professionals providing audiology screenings and hearing aid assessments to one such group – Special Olympics athletes.

Booth was invited to the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, Oct. 2-10, to provide training and help implement the Healthy Hearing segment of the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes initiative. With more than 7,000 athletes competing in the Special Olympics World Games, Booth and her colleagues expect to do nearly 450 hearing screenings and hearing aid assessments each day.

“It was alarming for me to learn that this population was under-served [in hearing services],” said Booth, a faculty member in UM Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. “Some of the athletes have not had their hearing tested before, yet many are at high risk for hearing disabilities.”

Booth’s work with Special Olympics began in 2003 at UMaine, the site of the Special Olympics Maine Summer Games. She and UMaine communication sciences and disorders graduate students provide the Healthy Hearing component of the state games.

Last year, she was the clinical director for the state of Maine at the Special Olympics USA National Games in Iowa.

“I’ve gone to developing countries to participate in mass screenings, but this is a case of services being offered as close to the athletic events as possible,” Booth said.

At the national and international games, Booth was involved in training other health professionals and students in how to set up an effective and efficient on-site audiology clinic. The work also involves the compilation of data that must be correctly entered into a Centers for Disease Control database – the largest database on the health of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the world.

Booth came to UM in 1997 from Gorgas Army Hospital in Panama, where she was chief of audiology. As coordinator and supervisor of Conley Speech, Language and Hearing Center’s Audiology Clinic on campus, she works with graduate students to offer hearing evaluations, assistive listening device consultation and counseling.

She and her students collect used hearing aids to donate to Hear Now, a nonprofit program of the Starkey Foundation that assists low-income persons with hearing disabilities.

In 1999, Booth traveled to the Dominican Republic with an audiology team to help fit 350 hearing aids as part of a humanitarian mission, sponsored by the Starkey Foundation.

“Service is important to me as an individual and to our department,” Booth said. “My work allows me to give students a more global perspective and shows them that they may be called upon to do missions of service in this profession.”

Mothers & More anniversary

BANGOR – Mothers & More, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of mothers, is turning 20 years old. In Bangor and beyond, the group has been caring for the caregiver, addressing mothers’ needs and interests emotionally, socially and intellectually.

“The secret to our success has been in our focus,” said Connie McVey, leader of the Greater Bangor Mothers & More chapter. “We are here for the mother. She is our No. 1 priority, no matter her parenting style, work status or any other factor.”

For 20 years, the organization has had its meetings in the evening, without children, to give mothers a much-needed respite. From the new mother in the throes of sleep deprivation and overall chaos to the mother of teenagers and all the complicated schedules and issues they bring, the typical member of Mothers & More is only typical because of how unique she is. And yet, it’s been a perfect match for 20 years.

“Our members are all mothers, but they’re certainly not all the same,” said Joanne Brundage, founder and executive director. “Nor would we want them to be. We’re proud to have members across the country who support each other personally, and care about the issues that affect all mothers nationally.”

Unlike other organizations for mothers, Mothers & More is an active and vocal advocate for mothers, generating public awareness and discussion about how public policies, workplace practices and cultural attitudes often de-value care-giving work.

At the same time, the organization provides a safe place where women connect to discuss real feelings, real lives and real motherhood.

It is because of the diversity that the Greater Bangor chapter offers so much variety. Member benefits include fun and thought-provoking meetings, moms’ nights out, children and family activities, playgroups, special events and more. Chapter meetings occur at 7 p.m. the second Wednesday and fourth Thursday of each month at the Eastern Maine Medical Center, room 2D.

For information, visit www.bangormothersandmore.org or e-mail bangormoms@yahoo.com. For information about the national organization, visit www.mothersandmore.org.