Maine Alliance for Recovery Coaching

Healthy Acadia, with support from Maine’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHS), launched the Maine Alliance for Recovery Coaching (Maine-ARC) in July 2019, to support volunteer-driven, community recovery coaching services across Downeast Maine. Today, in collaboration with community partners, we offer recovery coaching and recovery supports in Hancock, Kennebec, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo and Washington counties.

Through Maine-ARC, Healthy Acadia and partners collaborate with health care and treatment centers, jails, drug courts, pre-release sites, social service, and law enforcement agencies, and other community partners to implement highly effective, community-based recovery coaching systems to support those seeking recovery from substance use disorders, with an emphasis on opioid use disorders.

Maine-ARC partners work together to develop effective, far-reaching, volunteer-based peer recovery coaching programs that promise to build healthier communities and help people succeed in their recovery journeys. 

Click here to request a Recovery Coach

Youth Recovery Coach Pilot Program

Healthy Acadia, in collaboration with the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS), has launched a one-year pilot program aimed at providing recovery coaching for Maine youth affected by substance use disorder (SUD). The pilot has strong support from the Office of Maine Governor Janet Mills, who announced the initiative at the 6th Annual Maine Opioid Response Summit in July. (You can watch the full video recording from the Summit on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enl_1qVmWHs. Governor Mills announces the program at 3:53:45). the Youth Recovery Coaching Program (YRCP) operates within Healthy Acadia’s Maine Alliance for Recovery Coaching (Maine ARC), offering vital support to individuals aged 14-21 in Washington and Hancock Counties.

The YRCP aims to connect young people in recovery and those impacted by the substance use struggles of loved ones with trained recovery coaches. Healthy Acadia will hire a full-time Youth Recovery Coach Coordinator (YRCC) and two full-time Youth Recovery Coaches (YRCs) to lead community outreach and offer one-on-one coaching to youth participants. The program will also incorporate volunteer and paid interns through Healthy Acadia’s Maine Recovery Core Program, creating opportunities for those interested in entering the behavioral health field.

Healthy Acadia anticipates training 20-30 individuals through the CCAR Recovery Coach Academy for Young People in Washington and Hancock counties. These newly trained individuals may go on to serve as youth recovery coaches or support partner organizations, such as schools, that are eager to integrate recovery services into their communities.

We are currently hiring for the following positions:

Updated October 9, 2024

Healthy Acadia coordinates recovery coaching and support programs through Maine Alliance for Recovery Coaching’s community volunteer recovery coach program and Maine Recovery Core, our internship-based recovery coach program. We have coaches serving in ten Maine counties across northern, central, and eastern Maine: Aroostook, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo, and Washington.

Recovery Coach Program Site Coordinators

Maine Recovery Core

Kristé Sprague, Maine Recovery Core Director: Kristé.Sprague@HealthyAcadia.org; 207-412-2288 Ext. 404 • 207-352-2075

Maine-ARC Community Volunteer Recovery Coach Program

Hancock County Recovery Coach Program

Denise Black: denise@healthyacadia.org; 207 412-2288 Ext.402

Kennebec County Recovery Coach Program

Mackenzie Kelley, Kennebec County Recovery Coach Site Coordinator: mackenzie.kelley@healthyacadia.org; 207-852-7487

Washington County Recovery Coach Program

Gretchen Harrington, Washington County Recovery Coach Site Coordinator: gretchen@healthyacadia.org; 207-479-6287

We contract with the following organizations in Kennebec, Somerset, and Waldo counties to lead recovery coach coordination in their respective counties:

Somerset County Recovery Coach Program: Kennebec Behavioral Health

Stacy Austin, Somerset County Recovery Coach Site Coordinator: saustin@kbhmaine.org; 207-474-8368 Ext. 3621

Waldo County Recovery Coach Program​: Maine Coastal Regional Re-entry Center

For more information about the Maine-ARC program, contact:

Denise Black: denise@healthyacadia.org; 207 412-2288 Ext.402

Terri Woodruff: terri@healthyacadia.org; 207-255-3741 Ext. 106