Our Mission

COURAGE: We value boldness in our vision, actions, and leadership.

INCLUSION: We cultivate a welcoming space for all.

PLACE AND HISTORY: We value the history of our space and our community, while also acknowledging the inequities.

COOPERATION: We believe we can do more together than we can on our own.

HEALTHY AGING: We honor the process of aging and the diverse ways it affects individuals.

INSPIRATION: We value the power of human interaction to inspire love, connection, and learning.

INTERCONNECTEDNESS: We believe in the interconnectedness of all people with each other and with our environment.

RESPECT: We nurture feelings of trust, safety, and well-being by regarding the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of all.

COURAGE: We value boldness in our vision, actions, and leadership. CHC is committed to engaging the community in conversations that matter – even when difficult – for the sake of the greater community good. We support courage in individuals who show up and share their perspectives. We value naming issues in our community and providing a civil, respectful space for dialogue.

INCLUSION: We cultivate a welcoming space for all. CHC welcomes diversity with respect to race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, economic situation, marital and family status, and cultural identity. We recognize diverse ability levels and intentionally reach out to all people in our community to make our space, programs, and resources widely accessible. We treat everyone with kindness.

PLACE AND HISTORY: We value the history of our space and our community, while also acknowledging the inequities. We are creating tomorrow’s history today, and we value the opportunity to do this with respect, fairness, and justice. We acknowledge that our history involves disregard and disrespect for whole groups of people over time. This is as much a part of our story as are the positive contributions. We actively work towards equity in all we do.

COOPERATION: We believe we can do more together than we can on our own. CHC actively seeks to partner and collaborate with entities in the Maine Highlands region to build healthy, resilient communities. We value learning from others and working together to nurture creative solutions to community challenges.

HEALTHY AGING: We honor the process of aging and the diverse ways it affects individuals. CHC believes that every older person is unique. We create an environment and offer programs that ensure well-being, health, safety, and vitality for all older people in our communities.

INSPIRATION: We value the power of human interaction to inspire love, connection, and learning. CHC believes in the power of sharing and celebrating our stories, cultures, identities, knowledge, and experiences generation after generation. CHC is a place for story sharing, reverent and joyful celebrations, and creative, imaginative experiences with people of all ages and abilities.

INTERCONNECTEDNESS: We believe in the interconnectedness of all people with each other and with our environment. We foster these connections in all that we do and actively break down barriers that stand in the way of achieving physical and mental wellness, dignity, and vitality for people in all stages of life, and environmental health and wholeness.

RESPECT: We nurture feelings of trust, safety, and well-being by regarding the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of all. CHC embraces respect as a way of being and values the wisdom of diverse voices. We encourage respectful listening by withholding judgment and asking questions to seek understanding. We set up our space, structure our gatherings, and offer programs in ways that embody respect. Our staff, volunteers, and participants treat each other and our space with respect and kindness.