Director’s Update: September 2025

• Operations:  August operations are on track. 

• MPAC- Board consists of 6 members, Co-Chair Ryun Anderson, Co-Chair Carla Hunt, Secretary Julian Rowand, board members Craig Williams, Rosalani Moore and Thraza Rosie Hylton. 

• MPAC- our board treasurer Jadirah Ortiz has stepped down. We thank her for her enthusiasm and humility and recognize her contribution to our growth and success.

• MPAC currently has a staff size of 12 individuals. Joseph Jackson, Jan Collins, Peter Lehman, Joelle Jackson, Darlene George, Brandon Brown, Andre Hicks, Antonio Jackson, Linda Small, Sammy Basu, Daria Cullen and Kathy Elliot

• MPAC- contracted consultant Jeff Evangelos to support clemency and habeas corpus applications.

• MPAC- has contracted incarcerated resident Gordon Perry to support the website and communication team.

• MPAC has 12 volunteers. Doug Dunbar, Jon Courtney, Jamie Peloquin, Leslie Manning, Tatum Rosenberg, Olivia Hochstadt, Lani Graham, Adriane Herman, Nicole Lund, Sarah Johnson, Ann Beaudry, Craig McEwen, Al Cleveland, and Luca Mellon.  Special thanks for their work and dedication. 

• MPAC Mission. Value, and Purpose statements:

  Our Mission is to support and advocate for Maine’s incarcerated citizens, their families and friends.

  Our Purpose is to reduce Maine’s use of incarceration by advocating for a criminal legal system that is ethical, humane and restorative.  

  Our Vision is of a justice system that is restorative. It supports humanity in every person, and reflects and creates transformation and accountability.

• MPAC staff and Volunteers meet as a full team weekly to update and resolve tensions.

• MPAC staff members are in regular communications with incarcerated residents and formerly incarcerated individuals.

• MPAC staff meeting in-person with incarcerated residents at MSP, Bolduc, MCC, SMWRC. 

• MPAC Strategy Meeting is the second Saturday of each month from 10-12.

• MPAC - Legislative Strategy Meeting every Tuesday at 5:30 pm. 

• Arts Programming Team- Meets weekly Thursday mornings at 8:00am.

• MPAC Website Committee- Meets bi-weekly, Wednesday at 5:00 pm

• MPAC- Development and Communications Committee meets Mondays every other week at 8:00 am.

• MPAC- grant committee meets weekly on Tuesday.

• MPAC- Ways of Working committee meets monthly.

• MPAC- staff continues to support formerly incarcerated individuals in reentry, with transport, peer to peer support. One on one and in group settings.

On-going: Advocacy, correspondence, and Direct Dialogue. 

• August MPAC Strategy Meeting- was postponed to hold our annual board/ Staff retreat. The staff and board responded to three questions. Who do (you) we serve? What are (you) we doing? How do (you) we know (you) we are doing it right?

• MDOC- Joseph met with Deputy Commissioner Cantillo about the perception of regression with the SCCP policy and practices. There is a feeling that denials are on the rise. Cantillo reviews every denial and each application is weighted on a case by case basis.

• MDOC- Joseph met with Deputy Commissioner Cantillo about a complaint regarding the practice of administering MAT before first count. Cantillo acknowledges this practice as needed to reduce disruptive impacts on normal operations.

• MDOC- MPAC received complaints about excessive temperatures in the women's dorm at MCC. Cantillo was aware of the problem and said the department was working to replace the HVAC system.

• MDOC- Joseph received a call from Deputy Commissioner Cantillo to inform me that the computer restriction had been lifted for an incarcerated  resident for whom we advocated.

• MDOC- Joseph met with Deputy Commissioner Cantillo to advocate for 3 incarcerated residents to be seen by medical staff for various health issues.

• MDOC - MCC- MPAC Staff continues to advocate directly with Deputy Warden Chris Arbour and Warden Ben Beal about issues raised by incarcerated women. 

• MCC Longtimers- the women just completed a coding class. MPAC Coordinator Darlene George completed the class. The women who completed the coding project will be pitching the apps they developed to Apple and the commissioner on the 29th.

• MCC Longtimers- September Recovery Month. The prison has an activity related to recovery for the entire month.

• MCC Longtimers- Darlene is working with a few Women who are dealing with mandatory unpaid chores assigned regardless if they already have a full time job. Some  women complain they are not aware they have a chore and as a result receive level drops. 

• MCC Longtimers- MPAC ED and Coordinator Linda Small met with Eastern Maine Development Corp to explore employment opportunities for Women at the SMWRC.

• MCC Longtimers- 22 out of the 25 women eligible for work are now employed.

• MCC Longtimers- Chris Arbor and others have been walking through. They are promising new furniture for the upper and lower day rooms. Everyone is supposed to be getting new lockers and beds.

• MCC Longtimers- Darlene promoted and organized residents to attend Maine Inside Out Broken Clock performance.

• MCC Reentry Center- Linda working with the Reentry Center pre-release folks to help people with housing on the outside. She provides women with backpacks containing items that give women a headstart as they return to the community.

• Advocacy Coalition- will resume meetings every two weeks to discuss legislative strategy.

• Longcreek- Andre updates about Long Creek, noted a decrease in detained youth and an increase in female residents. Andre also noted Longcreek has an Earned Living Unit.

• Longcreek- MPAC is supporting 40 youth in reentry. There is weekly engagement with youth one-on-one or in groups. Youth are provided food, shoes, and haircuts. They are supported with seeking employment (help with filling out applications). Andre is speaking on behalf of youth during court hearings.

• Longcreek- Andre attended a Sea Dogs game with incarcerated youth and staff from Longcreek.

• Longcreek- Joseph and Andre are planning a second outdoor retreat with Youth September 20th.

• MSP- September Recovery Month. The prison has an activity related to recovery for the entire month.Jon Courtney organized and attended a recovery film event at MSP.

• MSP- Medical Advisory Committee is preparing to meet with Well Path on the 24th.

• MSP- residents are participating in an art exhibit to be held at The Francis Hotel in Portland during the months of October, November, and December. Santanu gathered, indexed, and prepared the art for transport.

• MSP- the residents are asking if there is an avenue for MPAC to offer transportation for visitors once or twice a year. We will discuss it at a strategy meeting.

• No Penobscot county jail- New jail building will likely not go for vote this fall, more likely June 2026.

• Cumberland County jail- MPAC is in discussion with no ICE, and other orgs to develop a strategy around ICE detentions.

Projects:

• Paco's Place- We extended the option 1 month and plan to purchase the building on roughly September 29.  

• Paco's Place- 90% of our blueprint drawings should be completed next week. We’ll be submitting our 90% drawings and estimates by the end of the month. Hope to close on the construction financing by the end of the year.

• Paco's Place- planning committee met with Marty from Auburn housing. We discussed where we were in our programming planning. Marty was impressed!

• MPAC Clemency project- Jeff has supported three individuals to move their challenges of their convictions forward. He supported one resident to find legal representation. In another case the judge accepted the residents claims and ruled the case can move forward.

• Outdoor Retreat- MPAC had two more outdoor excursions with formerly incarcerated individuals from Recovery Housing of Maine. We transported men to the lake, played in the water and grilled burgers.

• Guide for Filing Grievances- MPAC is finalizing a project to consolidate information on how to file grievances properly.

• Reentry Support- MPAC supported 16 individuals in reentry transition for the months of June and July. We supported a family with a celebration of life.

• Gallery Exhibit Project: Inside Vision- MPAC initiated a call for art from incarcerated residents for our fall exhibition at the Francis Hotel. The first installment of art was picked up last week. Adrian Herman has arranged for a student to intern with us to support the art exhibit. She is also arranging for a world class printmaker to give workshops in lithography at MCC. Nicole Lund will be providing an art therapy class at Franklin County Jail during the fall semester.

• MPAC- will table at Recovery fairs across the state and collect signatures for Mainers willing to respond to our call to action. 

• Mainecare- MPAC held our first group at York County Jail! Each resident will receive a 100 dollar stipend for participation. Will hold subsequent groups at MCC Reentry Center, Franklin County Jail, and Maine State Prison.

• ALPHA LEGAL FOUNDATION- MPAC’S ED and Coordinators participated in the LAW & SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM.

Communications: 

• MPAC- Daria Cullen is our communications lead. 

• Website- MPAC Volunteer Jamie Peloquin leads our Website design.

• Google Group- MPAC has received complaints about the overwhelming number of emails from mainers-against-solitary-confinement+msgappr@googlegroups.com. We have restructured our platform to only allow post from administrators. Which will take place once a week.

• Webpage- Pathways to Promise page about to go live.

• Daria continues to update our website, https://www.maineprisoneradvocacy.org/

• Webpage-Regular updates such as the weekly listserv email, social media outreach, and website maintenance continue.

• Webpage- Creating assets for MPAC's fall fundraiser. It kicks off Sunday, September 21 and runs through December 20 to help us reach our goal of $100,000 in 90 days.

• Webpage- Additional resources are being added to the page. The How to Write Effective Testimony guide was added to the legislative action page, and a “Trans Support” option was included in the Contact Us dropdown. The News and Events pages were also updated for September.

• Webpage- Looking ahead, planning is underway for the annual report, a legal support flyer, and potential “State of the Carceral State” presentations at regional news media conferences. The website will see the addition of a volunteer section with bios and photos, and efforts to expand newsletter and action alert mailing lists are ongoing. A legislative explainer will be added to clarify the bill tracking process. Technical issues with the Contact Us form are being addressed, and ongoing collaboration is taking place to ensure accurate resource updates and improved user experience.

• MPAC - new YouTube channel MPAC YouTube channel 

Public engagement 

• On-track.

• Jan gave message on Transformation and follow-up presentation on incarceration as a public health crisis at Bangor Unitarian Universalist church.

Donors/funders:

• Grant team meets weekly. 

• Donate Button Zeffy platform 

• individual donation Zeffy - 605.00 in donations for June and July

• Donor - 1000 dollars

• Donor - 20 MSP

• Donor - 35.00

• MPAC- Brennan Center 1500.00

• MPAC - Maine Initiatives- 669.00

• Become A Sustainer campaign- A sustainer is a Donor or Supporter who commits to making monthly or yearly donations of time or money to the organization. Sustainers play a crucial role in providing a stable and predictable source of income for us by allowing us to plan and execute long-term initiatives with greater confidence.

Legislative: 

• Assistant Director Jan Collins leads!

• Legislative Committee Meetings- meets Tuesdays at 5:30pm each week.

• Legislative- Focus is on tabling and collecting names/email addresses in every district in the state for legislative letters. 

• Legislative Committee-  Clean Slate Campaign for record sealing.

• Legislative Committee- heard and discussed Frank Zarro proposal for an independent public defense program.

• Legislative Update- Parole4ME- meets every other Wednesday at 6:00pm over zoom. 

• Legislative Update- MPAC’S 2025 Legislative Tracker

Strategic Partnerships: ongoing- MaineTransnet, GLADD, Portland Outright, MIO, MYJ, Maine Law School, Disability Rights, Maine Equal Justice, ACLU, Muskie, Recovery Connections, Recovery Housing, JJAG, Women’s League of Voters, MPRN, MPDA, MSP-NAACP, Colby College, Bates College, UMA, RJIM, Maine Immigrants, Maine Family Planning, Maine Humanities Council, FAMM (Families for Justice Reform).

New Partners- Pubic Health Committee for Maine Medical Association, Knox-Waldo Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), Maine Clean Slate,  Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women. No Penobscot County Jail Expansion, ME-RAP, Southern Maine SURJ(Standing Up for Racial Justice), Amistad, Maine CDC, Vera Institute, Curative, Augusta Recovery Center, Reform Alliance, College Guild, Project Home, Maine Health Equity Foundation, Orange Bike Brewing Company, Friends of LongCreek, Groundwater Institute, Volunteers of America, Brennan Center, Maine Arts Commission, Maine Clean Slate Coalition.