The Milk Bottle in South Portland creates delicious mixers that are great on their own or mixed with anything you like. When you enjoy a refreshing, fan-favorite Lime-Aid at The Milk Bottle, you’ll be supporting mental health in Maine.

Throughout March, $1 from every Lime-Aid sold will …be donated to Sweetser, helping us continue providing vital mental health services to our community.

Click here to check out their schedule of local markets throughout the month: https://www.milkbottle.me/out-about.

Portland Press Herald: Sweetser, a Maine mental health services provider with centers in Lewiston, Sanford and Brunswick, has implemented an AI software called Eleos that transcribes conversations with patients without recording or storing the data, Kristie Worster, chief program officer, said in …an interview Monday. She said it helps therapists accurately document sessions.

“Imagine a therapist not looking at you, in a session, and typing into a computer. It’s a horrible experience for people,” Worster said. “This really has allowed clients to just have the therapist focused on them and to not have even five to 10 minutes taken away from them in the session.”

Maine lawmakers look to regulate AI use in mental health care

Some say the use of artificial intelligence can be harmful in therapeutic settings, while others say it’s a useful tool.

www.pressherald.com

BREAKING: Members of the Legislature’s Health & Human Services Committee voted UNANIMOUSLY to endorse capital construction resources in the Governor’s supplemental budget to create Maine’s first psychiatric residential treatment facility!

Senator Moore and Representative Meyer …made the motions in a strong showing of bipartisan support for the project. We deeply appreciate the committee’s longstanding commitment and leadership in filling this critical gap in the continuum of care for youth behavioral health.

Approving these one-time capital construction funds ensures the state:
✅ Saves & keeps taxpayer dollars in-state
✅ Strengthens oversight by having an in-state facility instead of one out of state
✅ Keeps Maine families together in the healing journey by preventing family separation

THANK YOU:
Senator Henry Ingwersen
Senator Marianne Moore
Senator Tim Nangle
Representative Michele Meyer
Representative Michael Lemelin
Representative Lucien Daigle
Representative Flavia DeBrito
Representative Ann Fredericks
Rep. Annie Graham
Representative Abigail Griffin
Rep. Dan Shagoury
Representative Sam Zager
Representative Julie McCabe

We also want to give a shout-out to our initial bill sponsors, led by Senator Ingwersen, for introducing the measure before it was included in the Governor’s supplemental budget:
Rep. Lori Gramlich
Rep. Drew Gattine
Rep. Holly Stover
Sen. Donna Bailey
Rep. Meyer
Sen. Moore
Rep. Daigle

This is a priority item this session for the Maine Alliance for Addiction and Mental Health Services and the Behavioral Health Community Collaborative.

Thank you, Governor Janet Mills, for including nearly $3.4 million in the Supplemental Budget proposal for capital construction resources to create Maine’s first psychiatric residential treatment facility.

We fully support this section of LD 2212 and urge our friends in the legislature …to keep this funding in the final version. Without filling this funding gap, Maine families from Kittery to Eastport to Madawaska will continue to see their at-risk youth shipped halfway across the country for more expensive care, without the natural support of loved ones close by, or continue to languish in emergency rooms. This supplemental budget appropriation gets this therapeutic 16-bed facility across the finish line.

WGME CBS 13 News, Portland: “This gives families the chance to keep their children close to home while they receive the highest level of care,” Chenette said. “It also provides a real alternative to emergency rooms, where kids are languishing simply because there’s nowhere else for them to …go.”

Sweetser is aiming to open the facility in 2026 and is calling on businesses, foundations, and individuals to help close the funding gap.

“We are truly building a home for hope,” Chenette said. “But we cannot get this across the finish line without the community stepping up.”

Sweetser to build Maine’s first psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth

For decades, Maine has stood alone in New England without a psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth with the most severe mental health…

wgme.com

Our Corporate Partners in Hope help fuel our mission. Thank you, University Credit Union for your support! 🩵

Pictured here: UCU's Community Engagement Manager Whitney Blethen & Sweetser's Development Director Jodie Hansen.