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Empower Lewiston was honored recently by USM/L-A with a Community Partner Award, in recognition of it’s collaborative efforts with the Lewiston Youth Empowerment Program and other community-based efforts. Accepting the award on behalf of Empower Lewiston are Tina Bailey, left, and Barbara Rankins, center. USM/L-A faculty member Michelle Vazquez-Jacobus is at right. |
September 2006
The University of Southern Maine/Lewiston-Auburn (USM/L-A) recently presented Empower Lewiston with a “Community Partner Award.” The award was bestowed in recognition and appreciation of Empower Lewiston’s collaborative partnership efforts on a range of projects and program aimed at empowering and building community.
One of the partnership projects that Empower Lewiston has been involved with is the Lewiston Youth Empowerment Program (LYEP). This program pairs USM students, as mentors, with youth from the downtown area. Empower Lewiston shared in the planning and organization of the program, and their staff helped train the USM student mentors by providing an overview and history of the Lewiston community. As the LYEP program progressed, Empower Lewiston has offered their expertise in recruiting group participants and suggesting organizations and activities that might be enriching for the youth in the program.
In addition, Empower Lewiston has been significantly engaged in a range of USM/L-A student projects, has acted as the supervisory site for student interns, and has employed USM/L-A graduates. University students have partnered with Empower Lewiston to develop an adult literacy program, to organize an intergenerational recreational activity series, and to survey and assess the needs of teenage girls in the downtown.
In presenting the award to Empower Lewiston, USM/L-A faculty member Michelle Vasquez-Jacobus cited the “consistent, infectious enthusiasm of their sustained partnership and of their visionary collaboration.”
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