What We Believe
We believe in a Maine where we can live healthy, engaged, and secure lives with choices and opportunities as we age in our homes and communities. This vision intentionally includes diverse older people who have experienced historical bias and injustice.
MCOA Mission
The MCOA draws upon wisdom, experience, and data to influence policy, educate stakeholders, and advance initiatives that move us towards our vision. We commit to including the voices, wisdom, and lived experience of diverse older people.
Goals
We support public policy that:
- Creates age equity* across all systems;
- Promotes equity for diverse older people;
- Addresses historical structural inequities;
- Supports municipal and community initiatives that expand meaningful options for us to live healthy, engaged, secure lives, and access the housing, transportation, care and other supports we need;
- Ensures adequate funding and system resources are dedicated to the full spectrum of supports and services for us as we age;
- Expands supports for informal care partners;
- Enhances opportunity for us to work, socialize and be fully engaged in our communities;
- Increase advocacy skills and leadership opportunities;
- Ensures dignity, self-determination, and quality of life; and
- Anticipates emerging trends and changing needs regarding the future of aging in Maine;
*The term “equity” refers to fairness and justice as is distinguished from equality. Equality means treating everyone the same, even when we do actually have difference. Equity acknowledges difference, and recognizes we do not all start from the same place and may need different adjustments to address imbalances. The process is ongoing, requiring us to identify and overcome intentional and unintentional barriers.
Acknowledgements
In America and Maine, policies, structures, and systems exist that deny people and communities of color what is necessary for a full and fair life. Since their inception, these structurally racialized systems have been marked by conscious and unconscious racial bias that pervades our society, to the benefit of white people and to the disadvantage of people of color.
Bias and structural oppression based on factors such as gender or gender identity, immigration status or nationality, age, disability, religion, poverty and social class, sexual orientation, membership in an Indigenous (native) group or ethnicity are equally harmful to people, communities, and the notion of a just society. Further, the damaging effects of oppression are multiplied when these identity factors exist together.
Progress toward justice and equity has largely come from the wisdom and courage of people from communities most harmed by bias and systemic oppression. Thus, our equity work must be pursued in partnership with, and guidance from older BIPOC and LGBTQ+ people.
Commitments
We commit to examining whether we and the organizations we work with operate in ways that align with the race equity, justice values, and goals we support. We commit to investing in active, ongoing learning that will teach us to see, reveal, and transform structures that create unjust outcomes. This commitment requires that we help our staff, board, and member organizations to actively and expressly challenge the use of racist language and behaviors, openly listen when we ourselves are challenged, and learn techniques and tools for reducing and eliminating implicit and explicit racial bias.
We support public policy that:
A Commitment to Equity & Inclusion from the Maine Council on Aging
The coronavirus pandemic has challenged us all in many ways. For nearly all of us, we have had the shared experience of having our lives and expectations completely upended. Many of us have found comfort and support in this shared experience; it has brought us closer together and shown us how resilient we are. We will need this resiliency as we turn our attention to addressing the severe inequities and pervasive injustices this pandemic has laid bare.
COVID-19 is not an equal opportunity virus. Anyone can get the virus, but it is more likely to claim the lives of those who have compromised immune systems, underlying health conditions, and chronic diseases. This is one reason that people 60 and older represent more than 80% of the people who have died in America. It also claims the lives of those can’t get quality health care treatment once they are ill, either because they lack insurance, lack access to quality care, or will be discriminated against because of the color of their skin, the language they speak, and even their age.
Nationally, while black people make up only 13% of the population, they account for 23% of all COVID-19 deaths. In Maine, people who identify themselves as black or African American account for 13% of Maine’s COVID-19 positive cases even though they only represent 1.6 percent of the state’s population. These numbers underscore long-standing health disparities exposed by the virus.
The killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers has prompted us all to look at the ways systemic racism is playing out in our spheres of influence, especially in light of COVID-19. Before his murder and subsequent worldwide demonstrations in support of racial equity, the Maine Council on Aging was grappling with how best to start a broader conversation about the value of older people in light of overt ageism during COVID-19 that has led to terms like “Boomer Remover” and statements that old people are willing to die to reopen the economy. Now, we are asking the broader questions, why do some people matter more than others, and how can we dismantle policies and practices that disproportionately negatively impact those who are devalued?
As an advocacy organization in the whitest state in the country that works to ensure we can all live healthy, engaged, and secure lives as we age in our homes and communities, we commit to being agents of equity and inclusion for older adults in our state, particularly people of color. We commit to deepening our understanding of racial equity, hosting uncomfortable conversations, and joining others in reimagining equitable systems of care and community.
Because systems have been completely upended by COVID-19, now is a perfect time for a reset. Our “new normal” makes space for change and our new knowledge of our own resiliency gives us the courage we need to pursue the change we want to see. And, we must. We must speak out and take action until we ensure that older black, brown, and native lives matter in Maine.
Here are some tools that can help:
Nonprofit Quarterly: A Nonprofit Path to Racial Justice: Linking Policy to Moral Leadership
Racial Equity Tools: Resources
Endowment for Health: Race and Equity Series in New Hampshire
MCOA Non-Discrimination Policy
The Maine Council on Aging (MCOA) does not discriminate on the basis of age, race,
ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, national
origin, political affiliation or religious belief.
The MCOA will not tolerate any behavior, including verbal, non-verbal, written,
gestures, or physical conduct, which constitutes harassment or illegal discrimination in
any form committed by an employee, and will not tolerate consultants or non-employees
who discriminate and/or harass employees, volunteers, consultants or members. All
employees and consultants acting on behalf of the MCOA are accountable for compliance
with this policy.
Appropriate investigation and disciplinary action will be taken with as high a level of
confidentiality as possible.
The MCOA is committed to assisting victims of harassment and unlawful discrimination
wherever they occur by taking corrective actions against violations of this policy.
Violations may lead to disciplinary action which in sufficiently severe cases may result in
termination of employment.
MCOA Statement of Equity & Inclusion
The Maine Council on Aging is committed to engaging a full range of perspectives, ideas and experiences to help us achieve our collective goals. We work to make sure we can all live healthy, engaged, and secure lives as we age in our homes and communities. As an advocacy organization in the whitest state in the country, we commit to being agents of equity and inclusion for older adults in our state, particularly people of color. We commit to deepening our understanding of racial equity, hosting uncomfortable conversations, and joining others in reimagining equitable systems of care and community
MCOA 2022 Biennial Report
Download Here
MCOA’s top priorities include:
- Increasing access to affordable housing & home repair
- Strengthening the direct care workforce across all settings
- Growing transportation options and funding
- Addressing food insecurity among older Mainers
- Increasing financial stability of older Mainers
- Incentivizing and Supporting Community Initiatives
- Promoting coordination and interdepartmental collaboration on aging policy
For its members—now over 135 organizations, MCOA provides a strong network with opportunities for shaping aging policy, shared knowledge, a cohesive voice for advocacy on priority initiatives on aging and shared learning. We host engaging quarterly meetings with frequent presentations, and exciting events like the annual Maine Wisdom Summit.