Public Invited to Talk About Domestic Abuse at Skidompha Library in Damariscotta on November 7
Skidompha Public Library is second-to-last stop of the Finding Our Voices two-month “Let’s Talk About It” tour
Molly Coyle, Adult Services Librarian at Skidompha Public Library, with Ida Koller, one of seven survivors who on Tuesday morning November 7 will share their stories and lead a community conversation about the domestic abuse all around us as. The event is part of the statewide, fall Finding Our Voices talking tour. Photo by Patrisha McLean
Published in the Bangor Daily News
October 23, 2023
Finding Our Voices, the grassroots nonprofit breaking the silence of domestic abuse in Maine, invites the public to attend their free event amplifying the voices of Maine survivors of domestic abuse at Skidompha Public Library on Tuesday, November 7 from 10 a.m. to noon.
This is the seventh stop of the Finding Our Voices fall tour that is bringing survivors to eight libraries from Millinocket to York to share their stories then lead a community conversation about the domestic abuse that is all around us.
The seven survivors discussing emotional, physical, and financial abuse as well as the impact on children, are Mia Mantello, a therapist, Christine Buckley, owner of a framing store, and Courtney Davis, a hairdresser, all from Midcoast Maine; Mary Lou Smith, a retired first grade teacher from Scarborough; Deb Gould, an author from Brunswick; and Ida Koller a teacher from Lincoln County. The founder/president of Finding Our Voices Patrisha McLean will moderate the discussion.
The morning event will also include short films and refreshments.
All the survivors in the Skidompha library event are featured on the Finding Our Voices posters in downtown windows and restaurant bathrooms throughout downtown Damariscotta as well as 90 other Maine downtowns.
Molly Coyle, Adult Services Librarian, said Skidompha “is excited to partner with Finding Our Voices to help bring awareness to issues of domestic abuse, which -- whether we are aware of it or not -- affect all of us. We hope that this program empowers others to find their own voices and strengthens our community bonds as we learn more about each other's life experiences.”
Finding Our Voices has donated to all of the libraries on its fall tour 10 books that survivors find especially helpful in their journeys to freedom and healing, including three books by survivors on the Finding Our Voices posters, The Road to After by Rebekah Lowell, Household by Deb Gould, and Savaged to Wellness by Melody Paul.
Business sponsors of the Skidompha Library event are Wiscasset Ford, Rising Tide Co-Op and Red’s Eats.
The next and last stop of the Finding Our Voices fall talking tour takes place the evening of Tuesday November 28 at the Camden Public Library when men will talk about growing up with domestic abuse, and breaking the cycle.