Brunswick Area Indivisible Newsletter #33
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"We are a grassroots organization of concerned residents of Brunswick, Topsham and Harpswell” Newsletter for September 20, 2026 Brunswick Area Indivisible Action Calendar: Dismantling Democracy: 53 Days in Nazi Germany, Wednesday September 23, 6:30 pm, Brunswick United Methodist Church, 320 Church Road, Brunswick. Presented by the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine: Details below. Monthly Community Meeting, Wednesday October 7th at 6:30pm, Brunswick United Methodist Church, 320 Church Road, Brunswick. Join us for a candidate forum and meet-and-greet for Brunswick School Board & Town Council. Final Postcarding Session, before the Community Meeting Wednesday, October 7th at 4pm. Organizer Karen says: "Our final one before the election. We will be writing to Maine voters to inform them about Susan Collins role in funding ICE or introducing them to Troy Jackson as the best candidate for all Mainers . Please join us for our final push to make a difference." No Kings 4! Get out the Vote! Saturday, October 17th, 3-5pm on the Brunswick Mall, Maine St, Brunswick. A community rally to drive toward record voter participation in the midterm elections. Details TBA. BAI Book Group Discussion Wednesday, October 21, 2026 from 4 to 5:15pm. Topsham Public Library. ‘You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train' by Howard Zinn. Dress the Resistance, Fashion Show; October 30th. Save the date! Be a model! You know what I mean. Do your little turn on the catwalk. Details TBA. 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 Saturdays, 11:00 am to 12:00 Brunswick, Maine St. on Rt 1 Overpass. Bring banners, signs. Mark your calendar (events sent to us by other groups): How Maine Elections Work: A Community Conversation Monday, October 5th, 6:00 - 8:00pm, Freeport Performing Arts Center, 30 Holbrook St, Freeport, ME. A moderated, nonpartisan discussion sponsored by Stronger Together Freeport, the League of Women Voters of Maine and Greater Freeport Indivisible. Details below. No Kings, Vote Early! Indivisible Sagadahoc invites all to join them Saturday, October 17, No Kings - Vote Early! Please join us at the Sagadahoc Bridge, Route 1, Bath from 10:00 AM to 11:00-ish. Listen to songs from the Indivisible Sagadahoc Chorus and rally on the Bridge for voting early and for protecting our free and fair elections. Concert to benefit The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) Saturday, October 24th, 7pm, Woodfords Congregational Church, 202 Woodfords St. Portland, ME. Sponsored by The Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick and Woodfords Congregational Church of Portland. Details below. For More actions and events, visit Activate Maine and Mobilize Countdown to Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2026Mail-in Ballots are available now. Call or stop by your town office or use this form from Maine Secretary of State website. In person early voting starts 30 days before the election. Contact your town office for exact days and times. Brunswick Area Indivisible is hosting a timely program from the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine: Dismantling Democracy: 53 Days in Nazi Germany.Wednesday September 23, 6:30 pm, Brunswick United Methodist Church, 320 Church Road, Brunswick This one-hour presentation and Q&A explores how Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power and, once in office, legally dismantled Germany’s democratic system. The talk and accompanying slideshow, presented by Holocaust Scholar Erica Nadelhaft, draws on primary sources and historical context to reveal the fragility of democratic institutions. As we prepare to vote in November 2026, come to see this work in action and be part of the conversation.Erica will facilitate the Q&A following the program, creating space for thoughtful dialogue and reflection focused on this pivotal moment in history. HHRC and Brunswick Area Indivisible invite us to examine history in ways that deepen understanding and inspire civic engagement. The program is free and open to the public. Bring a family member or a friend! How Maine Elections Work: A Community Conversation October 5th, 6:00 - 8:00pm, Freeport Performing Arts Center
A nonpartisan panel discussion on Maine's election administration process. Join us for a community conversation about how elections are run and safeguarded in Maine. This moderated panel brings together the officials and community leaders who administer and support the voting process to walk through how a ballot is cast, counted, and certified, and to answer the questions Maine voters have about the system.
Confirmed Speakers:
Format: Moderated panel discussion followed by community Q&A. This is an educational, nonpartisan event open to the public. Our goal is simple: to help Maine voters understand how their elections work, from the people who run them. This public education session is being co-organized by Stronger Together Freeport and League of Women Voters of Maine with support from Greater Freeport Indivisible. Seating & RSVP Details: While walk-ins are warmly welcomed on the day of the event, we strongly encourage you to RSVP in advance. Pre-register here: https://bit.ly/Maine-elections BAI Community Meetings are Back After a Summer Break Postcarding! About 30 volunteers completed and mailed all 500 postcards urging Maine voters to participate in the midterms. Maine Votes; Election Protection Katie Guare (Maine Votes / Maine Voices Network) emphasized that Maine elections are secure, supported by paper ballots, same-day registration, and local administrators. Key takeaways:
Coordinated Campaign Goals Katya Fromuth (Maine Coordinated Campaign) is seeking volunteers for canvassing and phonebanking. Canvassers aim to identify 700 voters in Brunswick by month's end. Visit 12 Pleasant Street, call/text 207.632.1542, or go to https://www.mobilize.us/mainecoordinated/. Campaign signs are available. Healthcare for All Maine Abbie Ryder (Healthcare for All Maine) outlined efforts to put universal healthcare on the 2027 ballot. Volunteers are needed to collect signatures on election day. Learn more at https://healthcareforallmaine.org/. From a member: Friends Don't Let Friends Vote for Susan CollinsWhile best known in Maine as a children’s book author (Little Beaver and the Echo), BAI member Amy MacDonald began her writing career as a reporter and editor of a small town newspaper. She has worked as a writer, editor, and freelance journalist for many years, in publications ranging from the Maine Sunday Telegram to the New Yorker. She was the Regional Co-Coordinator for Swing Left Maine in 2020 and founded the voter registration group, SoME VoTe, in 2022. She splits time between Portland and Vinalhaven. Amy wrote this informative piece about why "Friends Don't Let Friends Vote for Collins!" 13% of your Democrat friends voted for Collins last time! You need to have this discussion with ALL your contacts. Project 2025 and Food InsecurityProject 2025’s main proposals regarding food insecurity are detailed in Chapter 10 (“Department of Agriculture”, pages 289-318) of the Mandate for Leadership document. This chapter calls for significant changes to safety-net assistance, including tightening SNAP work requirements, re-evaluating benefit calculation models, and ending broad school meal programs. These policy proposals could increase hunger by eliminating or reducing benefits for millions of lower income people and public school students. Project 2025 authors maintain that these measures aim to reduce federal spending, encourage employment, curb benefit misuse, and return nutritional support programs strictly to those meeting traditional, narrowly tailored means testing definitions. Combating food insecurity requires systematic interventions across policy and community levels. Key approaches include expanding and protecting federal programs such as SNAP, WIC and universal free school lunch initiatives to cover vulnerable populations. Also raising the federal minimum wage, expanding the Child Tax Credit, and improving local economic development to help address the underlying root cause of food insecurity: household poverty. On a community level, individuals can actively support local food systems. You can volunteer with local food banks, participate in community gardens, support local food rescue programs that reduce waste, and actively participate for local policies that address food insecurity. Expanding access to affordable, fresh produce in under served areas ensures long term nutritional security for all households. For more information: The original document, created by the Heritage Foundationhttps://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf The Food Research and Action Center https://frac.org The Center for American Progress https://www.americanprogress.org/ Affordability is one of the major issues that will drive people to the polls this election. But what does that mean? Maine has always been a state with a significant number of households at or near the Federal Poverty Level, but this measure ignores the many Maine workers who are unable to meet basic needs on what they are able to earn. United Way has developed a new, broader and more nuanced picture of the economic struggles of hardworking Americans. ALICE “Access Limited, Income Constrained, Employed” examines what it really costs to live in the US. The report for Maine concludes that 40% of Maine households are not able to afford basic living expenses. Households below the ALICE Threshold don’t have enough income to afford their basic needs. They are forced to make impossible choices, like deciding whether to pay for utilities or a tank of gas; whether to buy food or fill a prescription; whether to live close to work and pay more for housing or opt for a longer, more costly commute. And the are less likely to have the resources to cover unexpected household expenses (like an unforeseen car repair or a costly medical bill), or to recover from crises, both widespread (like a natural disaster or public health emergency) and personal (like the loss of a job or family member). The majority of household below the ALICE threshold are working households. Though there is no single cause for individual households find themselves struggling, it is clear that wages, even for many professionals, are not keeping up with costs. A basic survival budget for a Maine household of 2 adults, 2 children not in childcare was $75,552 in 2024. This is higher than the median household income for Brunswick ($74,952). The US Census estimated 7.7% of Brunswick households were living below the poverty level in 2024, but the ALICE report shows that a shocking 48% of Brunswick households weren’t getting ahead or even getting by. The report details the complex causes of the present crisis. The loss of federal programs, such as SNAP, health insurance subsidies, child care credits, the critical scarcity of affordable housing near employment, the skyrocketing costs of all the basics, mean that figures for 2025 and 2026 are likely to be much worse, particularly for children. Actions:
What's the Plan? National IndivisibleOn their podcast, 'What's The Plan', Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg announced a 'No Kings 4 Oct. 17th' and talked about the difference between the upcoming event and past ‘No Kings’ events. Basically, the first protests were to send a message: we’re not going along with authoritarian rule. The purpose of ‘No King’s 4’ is to drive up voter engagement and planned activities should reflect that. People around the country are planning costumes, dog walks, Halloween themes, puppets, concerts and more. Goals: Prevent Trump from consolidating power They also talked about the protection and defense of election results being a non partisan issue and we should think of midterm elections as ‘election season’ as opposed to Election Day. The events on October17th should also be used to recruit people for election defense. Make sure you’re signed up for rapid response updates from Hands Off Our Vote: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/966594/ Craft NightOn Monday, 9/14, BAI Crafting was attended by about 15 members. 50 postcards were completed to let folks know about Susan Collins’ deciding vote on fund increases for ICE. Several new posters were painted and our big letters were touched up. Working Group News - GovernmentWe want to stress the importance of early voting, by mail or in person, and encouraging everyone to vote! In terms of local politics:
We are following the Brunswick Town Council as it is grappling with several issues that affect residents in terms of taxes and aesthetics. State Politics: House candidates are still looking for volunteers to drive them to events. This is particularly important in areas like Woolwich and Auburn. Volunteer! Maine House District 101 (part of Brunswick) Representative Poppy Arford took constituent requests for legislation including mail-in ballot protection, shelter and warming center funding, legal aid, mobile home support, and health care. Concert in Aid of Immigrant Legal Fund October 24The Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick and Woodfords Congregational Church of Portland are proud to announce a concert to benefit 'The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project '(ILAP) at 7 pm on Saturday, October 24th at the Woodfords Church. This eclectic and exciting concert will feature a wide variety of music, poetry, and dance presented by Maine artists from a diversity of cultural backgrounds and life experiences. Musical artists include Madeleine Hanna and the 4-person Jawahir Arabic Music Ensemble performing song and dance primarily from Lebanon; The Pihcintu Multinational Girl’s Choir along with the band Akiwacu, featuring the voices of children from 16 different countries impacted by war, famine, and turmoil, and Hadithi Abdulle, oud player and singer from Somalia, presenting music on the theme of resiliency and personal testimony. Poetry will be shared by Jeri Thériault, a Franco-American poet from Maine, and Richard Blanco (via video)—selected by President Obama as the fifth inaugural poet in U.S. history. Signed copies of his poetry suitable for framing will be available by donation. The evening will be topped off by the 'Singing Resistance' chapters of both Portland and Brunswick-Topsham who will lead songs developed in 2026 as resistance cries in the face of the Minneapolis ICE occupation. Pulling this all together will be our amazing emcee: Brunswick comedian, Mohamed Awale. Donations will be accepted at the door and go directly to ILAP as well as to presenting artists who have been impacted by recent immigration activity. ILAP is Maine's only statewide provider of free immigration legal services. ILAP advances justice for Maine's immigrants through free immigration legal services, community outreach, and advocacy. -Brunswick Area Indivisible As always, if you have an upcoming action, article, legislative issue or story that you want to go out on the Brunswick Area Indivisible email list, send it to communications.bai.me@gmail.com Have you missed a newsletter, want to look back, or want to share a past issue? The most recent 6+ newsletters can be found on the BAI Posts page. Want to support BAI? We welcome your time and talents. Contact communications.bai.me@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities. Donations are welcome at our meetings and online through ACT BLUE.
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