Brunswick Area Indivisible Newsletter #13 Dec. 7, 2025
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"We are a grassroots organization of concerned residents of Brunswick, Topsham and Harpswell” Brunswick Area Indivisible Action Calendar: Potluck - Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025 5:30-6:30 pm Celebrate a year of action and accomplishments! Candlelight Vigil - Saturday, Dec. 13 2025, 4:00 - 5:00 pm Grief for our losses and hope for our future at the Gazebo on the Mall, Maine St, Brunswick. More details below. Recurring Events (Brunswick) Tuesdays, 5:30 pm Brunswick Maine Street Route 1 Overpass Rally - Bring your signs and flags. Wednesdays, 12:30 pm Brunswick Town Mall Cosplay protest. Meet at the Gazebo- costumes optional For More actions and events, visit www.activatemaine.com Candlelight Vigil on the Brunswick Mall Saturday December 13, 4:00 to 5:00 pmAt the close of a year of unprecedented attacks on vital government programs and civil liberties, Brunswick Area Indivisible is hosting a peaceful gathering to reflect on losses, recognize gains and affirm hope for the future. The Vigil will include speakers on immigration, heightened challenges to marginalized communities and homelessness. Songs, readings and a candle lighting ceremony will follow. Participants are asked to support The Warming Center at The Gathering Place in Brunswick. Donations of new gloves, hand warmers, hats and socks will be accepted. Food and household items cannot be accepted at the event, but The Gathering Place and Tedford Housing maintain lists of most-needed items. The event echoes the annual Homeless Persons' Memorial Vigil, a national day of remembrance sponsored by coalitions of advocates for the unhoused. This year the event, locally sponsored by Tedford Housing, will be held Sunday, December 21 at 5:00 pm at the Gazebo. Brunswick Affordable Housing StudyBAI's State and Local Government Working Group has been following the Brunswick Council's concerns about climbing housing costs and insufficient services at some of the town's mobile home parks. Bay Bridge Estates, a Brunswick mobile home park with over 400 lots, was purchased by BBE, LLC and Liberty Management Group prior to legislation that gives park residents the right of first refusal on any park sale. The new owners have raised rents, added fees, and have not provided many basic services such as adequate water. Residents of this important source of affordable housing, many of whom are elderly, are living in an unhealthy and increasingly expensive situation. If they cannot stay in their homes the number of Brunswick residents who are unhoused could climb dramatically. The town voted a 180 day moratorium on rent increases and has contracted a survey to get data on the situation. BAI members can stay aware of what is going on at Bay Bridge and advocate for residents at Town Council and Housing Committee meetings. Full text of the moritorium declaration can be found here. At present there is no long-term solution to the problems at Bay Bridge, so all ideas are welcome. Poppy Arford provides this information on potential state legislation we can advocate for: - LR: 2701 Date Accepted: 10/23/2025 Title: An Act to Protect Affordability in Mobile Home Parks and Manufactured Housing Communities. Sen Reny LR: 2896 Date Accepted: 10/23/2025 Title: An Act to Support Rehabilitation and Development of Affordable Manufactured Housing Communities. Rep Curry Thanksgiving Boycotts Came and Went; Now What?“We Ain’t Buying It” was the collective boycott run by Indivisible, partnered with Black Voters Matter, Working Families Party, Until Freedom and 50501. They wanted each of us to be politically conscious consumers. The boycott focused on Target, Home Depot, and Amazon. Target capitulated to the Trump administration regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) just five days after the inauguration, and many haven’t shopped there since. While Target acknowledges that they have suffered declining revenues, lower stock prices, and fewer shoppers, they still have not reinstated their DEI programs. While “We Ain’t Buying It” may not have crippled the retailers, it succeeded in raising awareness and starting conversations around economic activism and conscientious choices that make more disciplined consumers. ACTION: In order to stay in the race against the authoritarian administration, we need to remain committed to careful consumerism. Many have stayed out of Target for months - carry on. You are urged to terminate your Amazon account, end streaming with Prime, and stop shopping at Home Depot until their cooperation with ICE ends.
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