Community Concepts

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LEWISTON–On Monday, after two years of programming, support, and self-initiated determination, Jamie Mains and Jennifer Bracken graduated from Sophia's House, complete with access to their own residential apartments in the building.

"𝙏𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣," said Behavioral Health Services Director Jess LeBlanc.

Honored with symbolic gifts–flowers, poems, readings, books, framed graduation certificates, and beautiful glass pendants to be hung in Sophia's house–the two honorees were also read blessings written down just before the ceremony.

"𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚," said Sophia's House Day Center Program Manager, Sonia Turgeon, "𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙."

Indeed, There were plenty of friends in the room:

"𝙄 𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚," Nancy said, "𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩."

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩...𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙞𝙩," Steve said

Sophia's House Companion Pat Gardiner, who previously read a poem dedicated to the two women, also sang a verse as part of her blessing dedication:

🎵"𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍? 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆?" 🎶

The two women were beaming.

"𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣, 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣; 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮," Jennifer said.

Going off the cuff with her speech, Jamie said, was revealed to her in prayer.

"𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗜'𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆... 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼," Jamie said.

Jess LeBlanc noted that their success story is one that is shared.

"𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙖'𝙨 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨, 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨. 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮, 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙩𝙝, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚," Jess said.

"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝘼𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨, 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙙𝙤𝙢, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙖'𝙨 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡," she said.

Supporting and empowering women survivors of addiction, trafficking, or incarceration through holistic healing in a shared community. Trauma informed, gender-sensitive recovery that provides holistic healing for women—mind, body spirit, and soul—grounded in community and in love.

This is Sophia's House

Learn more at https://ccimaine.org/services/sophias-house/

Support Sophia's House: https://community-concepts.kindful.com/

𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙮: 𝘼 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮'𝙨 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮

Theo Cornish and his family can now safely, comfortably, and confidently move into and throughout their home after the completion of a ramp project on their property on Tucker Street.

The ramp build, one of CCI’s Self-Help Purchase & Rehabilitation Projects, allows homeowners to add essential accessibility or safety features to their home while also contributing volunteer hours and ‘sweat equity.’

As part of National Homeownership Month, officials from USDA Rural Development stopped by to celebrate this milestone with the family and highlight how the program works: once a participant closes on a home, they become eligible for repair assistance. For Theo and his family, that journey began when they closed on their home in August 2025.

“This is why we get up in the morning,” said John Butera, Maine State Director for USDA Rural Development.

“We invest in rural communities and that covers everything from water, sewer, police stations, fire stations, businesses and of course home ownership…the 502 (lending) program really tries to reach a segment of the populations that I think sometimes is of the belief that homeownership is not achievable.”

Theo, a CCI Board Member, was thankful—and hopeful—that projects like this could continue on for other families in the region.

“The Office of Rural Development is awesome,” Theo said, “it really isn’t possible without coordinated efforts across various agencies and sectors.”

Plans next weekend? This Homeownership Month, take the first steps to gain the tools, confidence, and support to start your journey toward owning your own home!

Registration: https://shorturl.at/93kCU