Keep going, Margo. Keep going.

Margo Walsh. Remember this moment? 2016 when we could not have imagined social distancing? I believe this is Alden Andrews hugging someone who has just arrived to the circle. Someone he has recognized from either detox or rehab or another life and they connect. And here you are holding that space saying something to all of us like 'See? See? THIS is how this works.'
Keep going, Margo. Keep going.

NOTE: Margo is currently collecting all the N95 masks she can locate to donate to MMC or other health providers.

As I move between street and MaineWorks what I feel is this:

As I move between street and MaineWorks what I feel is this:
It is not easy to show up here at the MaineWorks Circle. No one shows up here because it's been easy. No one shows up that isn't fighting a battle on many fronts. Struggles with past. Struggles with present. Struggles with envisioning a future, of having the energy of hope to propel them forward. Because hope is like that. It isn't passive. It requires an energy and when you are exhausted by life and by all that has happened and all you have done and all that the hijacked brain of an addict will do then there's a storm cloud you have to steer through each day. A mad dog gnashing it's teeth at your heels. And I stand next to them. Hear stories that break my heart but not to the degree theirs have been broken. Of lost and painful and sometimes unjust childhoods; of repeated failures and broken promises and the distance one can grow from what we love in the throes of addiction. I stand there and pretty much want to salute those that can show up. Repeatedly. And for those that cannot, who disappear after a week? I hold you in my heart. A welcome mat at the front door to my heart, swept clean each morning. You have taught me that. Thank you Margo Walsh for living this.

After the MaineWorks Circle is done and job assignments are made clear, transportation to the job site becomes priority.

After the MaineWorks Circle is done and job assignments are made clear, transportation to the job site becomes priority. Margo Walsh is often transporting employees. In a moment like this the pride, possibility and hope are pretty clear

MaineWorks founder Margo Walsh arriving before the circle, her hands suggesting the seemingly simple sorcery necessary to make a life here.

MaineWorks founder Margo Walsh arriving before the circle, her hands suggesting the seemingly simple sorcery necessary to make a life here.
'Show up. Work hard. Do it again. Then do it again. Stop the complaints. Let go of the grip of ego.And let all your dreams unfold from that. First? Show up. Work hard. Do what is asked of you. Do it well. Do it again.' 

MaineWorks Circle. 17 degrees: 'Your lives, for most of you, have come down to ruins and this is the chance...'

MaineWorks Circle. 17 degrees: 'Your lives, for most of you, have come down to ruins and this is the chance, this is the opportunity to make it different. If you don't care about building a life, go elsewhere. Go to other temp agencies. You can get a job. But here, we are at your back if you want it to be different. This business was built on hiring the unhirable. Felons. Drug addicts in recovery. To give some traction if you are ready to step up. But you have to show up like it matters. Like your life depends on how you show up on the job site. Because it does. You do that and doors will open. Opportunities will arise. We'll be at your back. But you gotta 'Show up. Suit up. and shut up' and demonstrate you're willing and able. '
Then she said 'I do this because I love you guys.'
Drop the mic.
Off to work.

At last nights Maine History Maker Award Presentation...

At last nights Maine History Maker Award Presentation awarded by Maine Historical Society and celebrating the legacy of the Hildreth Family in Maine, Senator Angus King spoke, seen here with MaineWorks founder Margo Walsh. He spoke eloquently to both history and our responsibility going forward, and just what it might take to create and sustain community and civilization, and how the Hildreth family have contributed to both. Thank you Senator Angus King for your thoughtfulness, dignity and refreshingly complete sentences.

MaineWorks Circle: As is often the case...

MaineWorks Circle: As is often the case MaineWorks Founder Margo Walsh connects with an employee, perhaps in response to something they have shared. Today it was a reference to an experience at Dunkin' Donuts that led to a conversation about simultaneously holding the complexity and extreme of emotions without having to identify with only one end of that spectrum. Today it was a reference to the work of Brené Brown, research professor. But sometimes it's a quotation. Or a poem. Or, who knows? It is connection and relevance and a moment that encourages 'looking under the hood.' — with Margo Walsh at MaineWorks.