CAMDEN — The Camden Public Library and Community Connect Maine are partnering up to show a screening of Invisible: Personal Stories from the Front Lines of Disability, a collection of short videos about the lived experience of Mainers with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families and caregivers. This will take place on Thursday, May 2, at 6 p.m., in the Picker Room at the Camden Public Library, and is free and open to the public.

This ongoing, multi-year project was developed, with grant funding from the Maine Developmental Disabilities Council, by Community Connect Maine, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the vision that all people have the support they need, when they need it, to live a full life in their communities of choice.

A barrier to achieving that goal is that many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are invisible in their community, according to CPL, in a news release.

“We hope to overcome that barrier by helping people in the disability community share their stories,” said CPL.
 
Admission to the screening is free, but attendees are strongly encouraged to register in advance at https://communityconnectme.org/events-and-workshops.
 
These videos premiered in Brunswick in 2023 to a standing-room-only crowd. Community Connect Maine has since been invited to screen them all over the state.

“As Maine prepares to completely overhaul the system of care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, it is more critical than ever that their voices are heard,” said CCM.

 
Community Connect Maine was founded in 2015 as a network of families of people with disabilities. The purpose of the network is to strengthen and expand resources to improve quality of life in the disability community. Collaborating with other statewide resources, we kicked off our network by obtaining a grant to train ten individuals with disabilities and family members to share their lived experiences in order to advocate for a better system of care.
 
That network is now more than 4,000 strong, representing all 16 Maine counties. We became a 501c3 non-profit in 2020, and collaborate with over 12 statewide organization to fulfill our vision that all people have the support they need, when they need it, to live a full life in their communities of choice. Our mission is to connect individuals, families, caregivers, and communities to improve the system of care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and related conditions.