NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME—From Tuesday, June 25 to Thursday, June 27, the grassroots nonprofit Finding Our Voices will accompany Maine Seacoast Mission to outer islands aboard Mission vessel Sunbeam. During the Mission’s regular visitation schedule to provide outreach and health services, Finding Our Voices and Founder and CEO Patrisha McLean will help raise awareness about domestic violence and abuse, and provide opportunities for guidance. 

In line with the Mission’s guideline of “meeting people where they are” as well as Island Outreach programmatic activities, the CEO and founder of Finding Our Voices Patrisha McLean as well as the organization’s only full-time staff member Mary Kamradt will join Mission staff in making informal visits with island residents. Both McLean and Kamradt are survivors of domestic abuse. In addition to the visits, Isle au Haut and Frenchboro will host dessert parties and distribute Finding Our Voices literature. On Matinicus, the Mission will host a cookout on the wharf with Finding Our Voices providing opportunities for islanders to learn about domestic violence in a casual way. This island tour is part of the Finding Our Voices 15-stop 2024 “Let’s Talk About It” tour, where domestic abuse survivors break the silence of domestic abuse one community and conversation at a time across the state. 

Finding Our Voices Founder and CEO Patrisha McLean shares, “I can’t thank Maine Seacoast Mission enough for prioritizing domestic abuse as a health issue on Maine islands, for allowing us to connect with the residents through their beloved and trusted organization, and for putting together such a thoughtful program.” McLean is an author and photographer of the 2015 book My Island, which celebrates the children of three Maine island communities of Islesboro, North Haven, and Vinalhaven. 

Finding Our Voices operates a bold, survivor-powered domestic abuse awareness campaign across Maine that has led to the distribution of posters featuring the photo portraits of 45 Maine survivors to be featured prominently in 90 towns. In addition, the nonprofit offers extensive peer and community support including free, online survivor-run weekly support groups, access to free dental care, and healing experiences. Finding Our Voices also advocates for protective laws and operates the Get Out, Stay Out Fund, which assists women fleeing domestic violence and stabilizing their own, and their families’, lives. In the first four months of 2024, Finding Our Voices disbursed $44,000 to 100 women. 

Director of Island Services Douglas Cornman, MA BC-DMT, says, “Domestic abuse is aggressively hidden on our islands. These are small communities where everyone knows everyone else’s business, even when you do your best to hide it. By raising awareness and providing avenues for conversation and discussion, communities become more deeply connected and improve mental health in addition to reducing stress, fear, and isolation. The Mission is thankful to Patrisha and Mary for joining us. I hope their presence on the Sunbeam and on our islands might encourage a victim of abuse to find their voice and step forward for support.”

 Finding Our Voices marshals survivor voices, and community creativity and compassion to finally move the needle on domestic violence in Maine, and bring safety, justice, freedom, and comfort to Maine women and children. To learn more, please visit https://findingourvoices.net/

 Rooted in a history of compassionate service and mutual trust, Maine Seacoast Mission seeks to strengthen coastal and island communities by educating youth, supporting families, and promoting good health. For more information, please visit https://seacoastmission.org/

Sunbeam leaving its home port, Northeast Harbor