An outdoor field trip and hike to Millbrook Preserve through the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust. Every Thursday (when weather permits), the ICC youth program incorporates outdoor accessibility and education through weekly field trips to local parks and recreation for 5th-8th graders.
Photograph by Lian Joseph
About The Intercultural Community Center
Learn more about the Intercultural Community Center from its leaders:
Beatrice Mucyo (Executive Director), Divine Nduwimana (Adult Program Coordinator), Lian Joseph (Development Associate), Amy Bilodeau (Site Coordinator), and Emily Loder (Youth Program Director)
The Intercultural Community Center (ICC) supports and improves the lives of immigrants and refugees by providing educational, health, social opportunities and resources. ICC empowers hundreds of immigrants and refugees in the greater Westbrook area (and surrounding communities) to achieve personal, social, and economic stability with the skills and tools needed to access essential community resources and make Maine their home.
Connecting New Mainer youth to the natural world
Connection to nature looks like students being able to comfortably and freely move and express themselves in nature. For instance, students being more curious about the outdoors and simply having fun (and telling us they're having fun) outdoors is what connection to nature looks like for our youth program.
Recognizing barriers for the New Mainer community
For New Mainers, this group is often excluded from outdoor spaces due to a combination of cultural/language barriers, transportation barriers, and financial barriers. By connecting to the outdoors for our community that we serve, New Mainers have the knowledge and ability to enjoy the outdoors while promoting overall physical and mental wellbeing.
Building foundations for outdoor equity
We are starting to build the foundation for outdoor equity, especially for our adult New Mainers that we support. It's all a learning process to navigate ways in which ICC can provide support and efforts towards outdoor equity that directly meet the needs of New Mainers.
