Let's Connect WMPG

Why do people volunteer? And how do organizations find the right people to help them? Tom Bell talks with Michael Ashmore, the Training and Program Development Officer at Volunteer Maine, and two Resilience Corps Fellows, Anna Paddock and Caitlan Vultaggio, about how volunteerism helps communities and nonprofits thrive.

South Portland Mayor Kate Lewis discusses the city’s efforts to take the lead on several tough issues, including environmental sustainability and housing.

Kristina Egan, Executive Director of the Greater Portland Council of Governments, speaks with Freeport resident Claire Houston, land use planner Vanessa Farr, and John Egan, Vice Chair of the Freeport Town Council, about efforts to add more housing to downtown Freeport.

Kristen Dow, Director of Health and Human Services for the City of Portland and Mufalo Chitam, Executive Director of the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition, discuss efforts to provide asylum seekers with temporary housing as the system reaches a crisis point.

Tom Hall, the Town Manager of Scarborough, Jami Fitch, Scarborough’s Sustainability Coordinator, and Sara-Mills Knapp, the Director of Sustainability at the Greater Portland Council of Governments, discuss the impact of the climate crisis and what the region can do to bolster its resiliency to extreme weather.

How can our public transportation agencies work together to improve the experience of currentriders, attract new riders and make the system more effective and efficient? The region’s seven agencies have just finished a plan called Transit Together to improve public transportation. Kristina talks with Chad Heid, the Executive Director of BSOOB Transit and Andrew Clark, the Transit Program Manager at the Greater Portland Council of Governments to learn about new efforts to make public transportation more frequent, faster, and easier to use.