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Portland, Maine

WCHP's Trisha Mason receives service award from Maine Department of Corrections

Portrait of Trisha mason
Trisha Mason, M.A., director of the Westbrook College of Health Professions Office of Service Learning

Trisha Mason, M.A., director of the Westbrook College of Health Professions Office of Service Learning, was recently awarded the Maine Department of Corrections’ Challenge Coin in a ceremony on Jan. 26.

Dep. Warden Chris Arbour of the Maine Correctional Center and Women’s Reentry Center presented Mason with the award for “exceptional community engagement by a civilian.” Arbour noted Mason’s work raising awareness of substance misuse and the importance of harm reduction strategies when individuals reenter their communities.

Under Mason’s guidance, UNE students have had the opportunity to participate in assembling over 3,000 wellness kits for individuals reentering society. The kits, which have been distributed across Maine, have included notes of encouragement designed and written by UNE students.

"I am certainly humbled to be given this honor by Dep. Warden Arbour, but I also feel this is a shared recognition with our UNE community,” Mason remarked. “It has been a pleasure to partner with the Maine Department of Corrections and Wellpath, and I am grateful for their collaboration on this unique and highly educational opportunity for our students.

“Unfortunately, as Maine sees a significant rise in overdose deaths, it is critical that we provide learning opportunities for future health care leaders to gain deeper understanding and empathy for individuals who are struggling with substance misuse or those who are or have been incarcerated,” Mason continued. “Our students have shown incredible dedication to this endeavor, and I am equally privileged to have the opportunity to work with them toward this goal.”

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.