2019 Annual Meeting & Community Builder Awards

Investing in Early Childhood Prevents Crime, Sheriff tells United Way Annual Meeting

5/30/2019
Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry told attendees of United Way of Mid Coast Maine’s annual meeting Thursday he believes “we have the potential to solve much of what is wrong in our society by focusing our efforts on early childhood.”
 
Sheriff Merry, a member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, as well as of United Way’s Board, said he is a longtime advocate of high-quality early child care and universal pre-K. “Kids who succeed in school are much less likely to commit crime,” he said in his keynote address. He also spoke about a mental illness crisis, with 18% of Sagadahoc County students saying they had seriously considered suicide in the last year. “It’s critical we let young people know they matter, and are a cherished part of our community,” said Merry.

Merry said he followed the philosophy of the man credited with founding modern policing, Sir Robert (“Bobby”) Peel, who said the goal of law enforcement is not catching criminals, but preventing crime. He praised the work of United Way and many of its partner agencies for doing the good work of prevention in Mid Coast Maine.  ​

Joel Wegner of Five County Credit Union, outgoing Board Chair, thanked United Way’s partner agencies for their excellent work, and noted that through them and United Way’s leadership initiatives, more than 25,000 Mid Coast residents were helped to better lives in 2018. “In our Strategic Planning last year, we paid increased attention to the importance of human connections,” said Wegner, citing research that loneliness increases the risk not only of depression and anxiety, but also of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and dementia. “People need people,” said Wegner. “It sounds so basic. They need caring relationships….We realized that boosting community connections is very much at the heart of what United Way does, with our mission to mobilize ‘the caring power’ of communities.”
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“People need people,” said Wegner. “It sounds so basic. They need caring relationships….We realized that boosting community connections is very much at the heart of what United Way does, with our mission to mobilize ‘the caring power’ of communities.”

Joel Wegner, UW Board Chair

2019 Community Read Aloud

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Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry, reading at the Marcia Buker Elementary School in Richmond.

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​2018 Campaign!​

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​United Way helps local people in the areas of Education, Financial Stability, and Health.
We do this by funding over 40 programs at local agencies that are helping people NOW. ​We also work to prevent future problems through community impact initiatives.