ARGYLE, Maine — At a small clearing in the woods about 15 miles north of Old Town, a group of Penobscot Indian Nation dignitaries and community members gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of a building that they hope someday will provide support to local women in need.
The building is part of the vision of Rose Scribner, president and founder of the the Indian Women’s Mission, which distributes food and clothing to women who are part of the Penobscot Indian Nation, as well as other women in the area seeking help.
One of those women was Yvonne Ferland, who attended the event. In the late 1990s, Ferland, the mother of three children, got divorced and struggled to make ends meet. She sometimes worked 80 hours a week at several jobs in order to provide for her children, she said Monday.
“She helped me build myself back up,” Ferland said of Scribner. “She helped me and eventually I found my way.”
That help came in the form of food, school supplies, clothing, encouragement and advice, Ferland said. She now works full time as the office manager at the Department of Natural Resources for the Penobscot Indian Nation and serves on the Tribal Council.
“For native women, to go to an outside agency can be difficult,” she said. “They want to go to someone they know and that’s Rose.”
Scribner runs the operation out of her home on Indian Island, but she said she has outgrown the space.
Scribner, 74, was given the land by the Tribal Council two years ago. She envisions a new building that would house classroom space for job training, nurse assistant training and nutrition classes, along with the food pantry and storage space for the clothing.
Penobscot Indian Nation Chief Kirk Francis said it is significant that Scribner’s work is not just for native women.
“It fuses our communities together,” he said of her project. “That’s the real benefit of what Rose does.”
Scribner has run the mission since the late 1980s. In recent years, the number of women being helped has grown to more than 200 and the space is now too small to accommodate them, she said.
Scribner expects the project could cost up to $200,000 and is soliciting donations.
People who want to make contributions can make checks out to the Indian Women’s Mission Organization Center and send them to 19 West St., Indian Island, Old Town, ME 04468.
