Monday, May 16 may have been Kathleen Arabasz’s first day as case manager for the Community Navigator office in Boothbay Harbor, but it certainly wasn’t her first day of providing assistance to those in need.

Arabasz joins Community Navigator program case manager/director Amy Winston in providing case management assistance to area residents. Her career began in elderly long term care and the affordable housing industry and encompasses 12 years as a licensed social worker. Along the way, she has worked for MCH, Inc., the Maine Rural Demonstration Project for Congregate Housing, Volunteers of America and the Maine State Housing Authority.

Her energies have primarily been focused on housing for the elderly and she is known by those in the field for bringing the profession of resident services coordinator to the state. She and her husband, Mark Miskin, spent 10 years traveling the U.S.

Arabasz is excited about her new position and expects to use much of her knowledge to help area residents. Her focus will not only be on housing, however. The work of the community navigator program office includes case management, assistance with program applications and referrals to services.

The navigator program office is one of several programs of the Boothbay Region Community Resources Council which is made up of “24 town government, church, social services agency, schools, and individual volunteers from the towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb and Southport, Maine,” according to Holly B. Stover, director of the office of violence prevention for Maine DHHS. The BRCRC offers assistance to those who need help meeting basic needs in order to become self-sufficient by “providing funds, information and referrals in a confidential and collaborative manner,” Stover added.

In some instances, staff at the community navigator’s office may provide information and referrals to meet emergency needs such as food, clothing, fuel, shelter, domestic and sexual violence, physical and mental health (including addiction), as well as non-emergency needs like employment, budgeting and financial assistance, aging and eldercare services.

Arabasz explained that the office is for people who “don’t know where to start. We give them the steps they need to take and organizations to contact,” she said. “We are not a hand out; we are a leg up.” Those wishing more information may call the office at 207-633-6272 or contact it via email; Amy at comnav@boothbayresources.com or Kathleen at           programassist@boothbayresources.com

In addition to the community navigator program, other programs provided by the BRCRC are: The Community Garden, Food for Thought, the Free Clothing Closet, the Fuel Assistance Fund, Set for Success and the Woodchucks wood bank.

Arabasz and her husband live on Southport with Maverick, their yellow lab and a black cat named Jasper. The couple has three grown children and six grandchildren.