A Year of Community Support As 2016 comes to a close and we prepare to welcome 2017, I think it’s important to reflect back on this past year and all that has happened. Many times throughout 2016 we have heard…

Snow! 5-2-1-0: get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, no more than two hours of recreational screen time a day, at least one hour of physical activity a day and zero sugary drinks. Snow! Or is…

A Caring Community This month marks my fourth anniversary as Director at Healthy Oxford Hills. Today, two days after Christmas and back at work, I was surprised. During a week that many folks take off to vacation or be with…

Choice The other day I was walking down Main Street in Norway with a friend. We crossed the street twice, and both times, within seconds of turning to the curb at a crosswalk, with the obvious intent of crossing, a…

Moving Beyond the Fog   I usually look forward to my turn in the cycle of authoring this weekly Clear View Article. It brings me back to college, a time when it felt like everything had a deadline, and I…

Letting Go!   Winter is officially here if we look at the calendar, but don’t look out the window. It may be 45 degrees outside but before you know it the cold weather will be creeping in and making everyone…

Happy Holidays Soon my quiet house will be all a flutter as my three daughters return home for the holidays. I was going to write “teenage” daughters but one aged out and the other two will this year. I guess…

Western Maine Addiction Recovery Initiative Hosting Recovery Coach Training for Project Save ME Norway, Maine – The Western Maine Addiction Recovery Initiative will be hosting a 40 hour Recovery Coach training during the month of March. Please help support your…

Protecting and Serving the Health of our Communities There are lots of challenges in this world that are best met when people from all sorts of different backgrounds come together. The challenge of making our communities healthier is one of…

Obesity and Isolation 5-2-1-0: get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, no more than two hours of recreational screen time a day, at least one hour of physical activity a day and zero sugary drinks. As…

  Here is the link for email daphne@commongroundcounseling.org

Making A Difference   How often do you get a chance to have an evening out, get free childcare, enjoy a delicious and healthy meal – free – and contribute to plans that could transform the health of your community?…

Just do it!   A few months ago I wrote a clearview about the staggering amount of food that is discarded in the U.S. To review, it is estimated that about 30-40% of the food that is raised ends up…

Regional Transit Workshop October 25, 1:30-3:30pm AVCOG, 125 Manley Rd, Auburn We know, from many conversations with our members about making Oxford County a healthier place, that transportation is a huge factor related to health, employment, education, and more. This…

HMP No More, but HOH Lives On! I am now a former Healthy Maine Partnership (HMP) Director. That saddens me. Fortunately, I am still the Healthy Oxford Hills (HOH) Director. That gives me hope. “Huh?” you may say. If you…

Life's Aspirations   Fall is the time of year when the Oxford Hills School District talks with students about their aspirations and what they want to be when they grew up. Some students know instantly what they aspire to be.…

The Time Between Summer and Winter   Autumn has always been my favorite time of year. There is something so distinct about this particular change in seasons. We wake up to crisp mornings covered in dew, don our many layers…

PUTTING AN END TO THE STIGMA OF ADDICTION; How a Community Can Come Together to Support Recovery   When looking to define buzz words that are often heard when talking about addiction, we can all come up with our own…

A Lesson in Getting Over Myself   When my daughter was a toddler, we got into the habit of doing a “check brush” every night before bed. This meant that, after she spent a little time brushing her teeth, we…

Summer Meals, Success, and a New Partnership with the United Way   In 1968, the Summer Food Service Program began as an amendment to the National School Lunch Act, providing meals to children across the summer and filling in the…

Cooking Matters for Adults Class - Oxford Hills / Buckfield Adult Ed Interested in FREE cooking classes? Want to learn more about shopping on a budget? This adult class is for you! In these six sessions you will learn how…

Oh those packed lunches On my drive to work this morning I noticed just a touch of red in the swampy area that is the first to sound the alarm that fall is on the way. It has been a…

Hope, Help and Recovery On Tuesday, August 16th, I had the pleasure of attending A Congressional Town Hall Meeting in Auburn hosted by Congressman Bruce Polliquin. As part of Operation Community SAFER (Supporting Area Families to Enable Recovery) the purpose…

NAMI Maine is offering their Family-to-Family course starting September 8 in Norway. This is a great way to be a more effective support for friends and family with mental illness. "Family-to-Family is an evidence-based, educational program for family members and…

Picture this scene. You are hanging out at the beach on the ocean with your family. It is a beautiful 80 something degree-day. The breeze is blowing just enough to keep the bugs off and to keep cooled off. As…

August is Farmers Market Month. Support your Local Farmers and Farmers Markets Sunday Bangor Farmers’ Market Bar Harbor’s Eden Farmers’ Market Belgrade Lakes Market Caribou Farmers’ Market Kittery Community Market Lewiston Farmers’ Market at Bates Mill 5 Lewiston Winter Farmers’…

5-2-1-0: get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, no more than two hours of recreational screen time a day, at least one hour of physical activity a day and zero sugary drinks. I’m thinking about that…

In Oxford County, we’re fortunate to have an organized effort to address addiction and help people on the journey to recovery. It’s called the Western Maine Addiction Recovery Initiative (WMARI). The name was recently changed from the Western Maine Addiction…

Leaving for college can be hard. Those students who choose to pursue secondary education often have a lot of social and economic hurdles to jump over. Questions like, “Will I be able to find new friends here?” and “My textbooks…

5-2-1-0: get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, no more than two hours of recreational screen time a day, at least one hour of physical activity a day and zero sugary drinks. When I was much…

Waste Not The battle cries in my childhood household revolved around food. First it was proclaimed, “there is no food in this house,” followed shortly by a shopping trip and exclamations of, “there’s no room in this fridge, we need…

The school bell has rung for the last time this school year and the kids are getting ready to enjoy a long, hot summer. What is there to do with kids, on a budget, that will keep them entertained and…

In the world of public health work you often hear people talk about “leverage.” They use the term in different ways, but one definition they often have in mind is something like: “the use of a small initial investment, …to gain a very high return in relation to one's investment,…”   Let me give you an example…

New Asthma Action Plan Available for EMR The Maine CDC Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Program has two new Asthma Action Plans available on its website – a pediatric and an adult plan. These Plans were developed as a collaborative…

Jammin’ Out As a Nutrition Educator with Maine SNAP-Ed, I have the privilege of teaching an array of classes. I love all of them. Whether I am in a preschool tasting fresh fruits and vegetables or at a local church…

Rethinking That Jerk Who Cut You Off   Remember the last time that another driver cut in front of you quickly when you were driving? When this happens thoughts often pop into our heads like, “Thanks for that, you jerk!”…

Hope for the future A few weeks ago I had the good fortune of attending the Maine Nutrition Council workshop and heard Mark Lapping speak about the food system in Maine. Mr. Lapping is a Professor Emeritus at Muskie Institute…

Equal Opportunity Stupidity   My dad used to remind my sister and me that there was a difference between behaving with ignorance or stupidity: ignorance meant not knowing better, while stupidity meant knowing better but choosing not to act better.…

  Keeping kids safe around prom and graduation season is a community effort that involves everyone. Sending the message that this is a time to remember with a clear mind and not alcohol or other drugs can go a long…

NAMI Western Mountains, ME affiliate: When 2016 arrived, so did NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Maine’s newest affiliate: NAMI Western Mountains, ME. It covers both Oxford and Franklin counties. It is a grassroots group of volunteers which shares the…

What is mental health? A dictionary definition of mental health is: a person’s condition with regard to their psychological, emotional and social well-being.    Every living human being has mental health. It affects how we think, feel and act. It helps…

It is that time of year again where we need to remember to check ourselves and pets for ticks. Please read the tick watch newsletter that was put out by the CDC. Lots of information and great links.  

                                                                       Healthy Oxford Hills Staff   National Donate Life Month (NDLM) was instituted by Donate Life America and its partnering organizations in 2003. Celebrated in April each year, NDLM features an entire month of local, regional and…