Color Paper Project

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The color paper project provides food deliveries, masks, hand sanitizer, and water deliveries to Elders in in both Passamaquoddy territories, Sipayik and Indian Township. The goal is to ensure our communities have the necessary supplies for the pandemic, such as food, water, masks, and hand sanitizer. 

Our elders are sacred. We rely on them for their teachings, their experiences, their knowledge of our languages, and their care for our youth. Ensuring we care for them during the pandemic as they do for us throughout their lives, we instituted the “Color Paper Project” in 243 Passamaquoddy homes. Sheets of colored paper are placed somewhere in their homes where they are visible from the outside for dedicated elder support staff to check on them daily.

Color Codes

As a method of checking whether community members measures were working, we created a color-coded system for older residents to communicate with health officials from a distance. Different color paper means different supports are needed.

• Red paper means someone needs immediate assistance.
• Yellow paper means they are short on supplies, like disenfectant.
• Green paper means everything is OK.
• Along with issues of food security and medical supplies, the pandemic has also spurred concerns around mental health as people distance from one another. To support our elders with this, a blue sheet means the elder is lonely and would like someone to talk to, which we can do from a distance.

A piece of construction paper taped to a resident’s window as part of our Color Paper Project