The War on Poverty’s Legacy in Maine: Innovating Among a Small Community

Yesterday, we published a newswire about community development corporations, and today we publish this paean to community health centers. Both stories illustrate the importance of certain legacy types of organizations in the lives of community all across this country.

Live in Eastport, Maine, and you are the first in the US to see the sun rise, among the fortunate few to watch whales or witness the largest whirlpool in the Western hemisphere, and—if you love mustard—able to savor a sample produced by the last remaining stoneground mustard mill in America. And Eastport’s harbor, the deepest natural one on the Eastern Seaboard, never freezes over.

Eastport’s people are hardy and resilient, some say. But they are not hale. Indeed, Washington County, where Eastport is situated, ranks the lowest of Maine’s 16 counties in health outcomes, from length of life to quality of life. Not surprisingly, the county also ranks lowest in the state in social and economic factors, including poverty, income inequality, and violent crime. Its population has declined from more than 5,000 in the early 1900s to 1,331 in 2010, mostly the result of the death of a once-burgeoning sardine processing industry.