Plants, Promises, and Affordable Housing: A Big Moment for YWCA MDI
Apr 12, 2026
BAR HARBOR—Dozens of women gathered at YWCA Mount Desert Island’s gymnasium, Saturday, to celebrate the YWCA Mount Desert Island’s continued existence in the Mount Desert Island community and world and to honor two women’s impact to the island’s community and beyond, while also looking to the future.
For what is likely her last annual meeting as executive director, Jackie Davidson gave out hand-crafted flowers to her staff and many others, Saturday.
She joked that in her thirteen years at the YWCA Mount Desert Island, she’d given out so many live plants, that her coworker’s, Abby Robinson, office was full of them.
These plants don’t need quite so much care and attention as the live ones, however, they are still a testament to the blooming of the local YWCA under Davidson’s guidance since late 2012 with the help of Robinson, the rest of the staff, volunteers, and partner agencies and donors.
For more than a decade, Davidson’s life has been all about the YWCA’s mission to “eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.”
She began her role here in 2012, bringing a long history of involvement with the organization, having served in the 1980s on the board of directors and then as the group’s part-time programming coordinator.
Back in 2012, she told Rob Levin of the Ellsworth American and Mount Desert Islander, “I have always been impressed with how women’s lives have been made better because they’ve come here.” Ms. Davidson said, “If we can continue to do that, plus add some things that people can do and talk about, I think that would be a pretty impressive thing.”
They have.
Since 2012, the YWCA has made important strides forward, helping others in the community be they nonprofits trying to raise money for wheelchair projects, hosting book festivals for kids, art for seniors, programs about female empowerment and against racism and also by housing women who need a place to be.
The YWCA Mount Desert Island were the fiscal sponsors and staff the MDI Racial Equity Working Group. Attendees recited the pledge to eliminate racism in their lives during the meeting.
The YWCA also housed the Bar Harbor Food Pantry for many years, staffs tables at both Bar Harbor Pride and Ellsworth Pride as well as help organize Juneteenth Downeast and Weekend on the Waters. Its part of the Wabanaki Alliance and sponsors the Island Arts Association.
In the winter it houses the Bar Harbor Farmers’ and Makers’ Market.
It hosts multiple programs like the upcoming Frock Swap and the Community Thanksgiving Dinner, the Cultural Fusion Fest, and Carol Dyer Memorial Luminaria evening.
More than that, the YWCA has been a place for people to go when they need lodging, hosting 95 lodgings this past year. It directly assisted 96. It gave out four scholarships. Over 100 people volunteer to help the YWCA in its mission.
It does all of this on an income of approximately $614,000 in 2023 and a staff of seven.
In her note at the annual report, Davidson said, “I’ll miss the planning and executing of events, and then the loss of daily contact with members of the best staff ever. That sums up the yin and the yang of leaving after 13 years.”
The experience, she said, has profoundly changed her.
The YWCA’s future work will likely continue to focus on creating rental housing at Hamilton Station, lodging, children’s events, racial justice work, counseling services, and coordinating resources for women and their families. That last work was recently led by Linda Lunt, who is outgoing as well. Lunt was the resource coordinator. Her work will continue via a new staff member in September.
One of the largest projects that began under Davidson’s leadership is the Hamilton Station for affordable homes.
The plan for the Hamilton Station site off Route 3 calls for 18 one-bedroom (studio) apartments. It has access off Route 3 and divides a 26.8-acre parcel into two lots.
On Saturday, April 11, the board approved partnering with Flying Mountain Developers out of Southwest Harbor to continue with the Hamilton Station project. Flying Mountain developers is led by Gabe Ewing del Rio, Noel Musson, and Susanne Paul.
The group’s website writes, “At Flying Mountain Developers, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable housing options for individuals and families. We strive to create homes that are safe, beautiful, and sustainable in which families can both live and work as a contributing member of the community. We are developers for-hire to help unlock the potential of local stakeholders with land and projects that need a development team to bring their dreams and vision to life.”
All photos: Bar Harbor Story.
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