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G.E.A.R. Parent Network services are offered at no cost to parents.

Regular hours for our statewide toll free number is Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

However, you may also contact your local Regional Parent Support Coordinator listed below as they each are available at different times during the day, evening and weekends to meet the needs of the families in their respective areas.

Your call is very important to us! If we do not answer your call right away, we may be talking with another parent, so please leave us a message with your name, telephone number and a good time to contact you and we will call you back promptly!

G.E.A.R. Parent Network Regional Parent Support Coordinators have the experience of loving and caring for a child with behavioral health needs. They know the importance of having someone to talk to who understands what life can be like surrounding issues at home, in the community and at school. Through sharing information, parents learn about services for children, how to access them and what has worked for others.

They are there to......

listen

understand

share information

share experiences

support and encourage

The G.E.A.R. Parent Network was started by Charlene Milliken,

a parent and foster parent who recognized the need for positive

help and support for parents coping with the demands of caring

for children with special needs. This poem is in her honor.

Parable of the Rose

A certain man planted a rose. He watered it faithfully. Before it blossomed he examined it and saw the bud would soon blossom but noticed thorns upon the stem.

He thought…

How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns? Saddened by this thought he neglected to water the rose and before it was ready to bloom it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose: the godlike qualities planted in us at birth growing amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns and defects. We despair thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to reach past the thorns and find the rose within others.

This is the characteristic of love, to look at a person and know their true faults. Accepting them into your life while recognizing the nobility in their soul. Helping them to realize that they can overcome their faults. If we show them the rose they will conquer their thorns. Only then will they blossom many times over.

Author Unknown

The following Awards were presented on Thursday, May 17, 2007 at Crisis & Counseling Centers Annual Meeting and Dinner, Senator Inn, Augusta, Maine

Charlene Milliken Resiliency Rose Award

Appropriately, this new award was presented to Charlene Milliken, the founding director of the GEAR Parent Network. This year and in years to come, the award will honor one individual who has demonstrated resiliency and outstanding committment to the emotional and mental well-being of children. This year the award was presented to parent, Lisa Bishop! Congratulations Lisa!

Agency of the Year Award

This award recognizes an agency whose strong collaboration and communication with Crisis & Counseling staff helps to ensure the best care to consumers and families served by both agencies.

Presented to the Learning Disabilities Association of Maine, Brenda Bennett, Executive Director! Congratulations Brenda and thank you to the LDA staff!