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In January 2002, Maine Mentoring Partnership (MMP) was awarded a MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership START consulting grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. This grant, which was matched by Verizon of Maine, provided strategic consultation and tailored technical assistance to further develop Maine’s statewide mentoring partnership.
A
statewide survey developed by the newly created Providers Council was the
foundation for Maine’s State of Mentoring Report. A leadership planning team was formed. Tri-chairs from the private sector
(Verizon, Fleet and WGME 13) came aboard at the request of the Governor. The planning team composed of leaders
from both public and private sectors renewed its mission to promote, advocate,
support and foster child and youth mentoring programs throughout Maine with a
goal to provide 15% (35,000) of Maine’s children and youth with mentoring
relationships by the end of the year 2005. Currently identified are 6,000 one-to-one matches and
approximately 10,000 group matches.
The team also revised MMP’s strategic plan. It proposed outcomes for statewide success in six key result
areas with a high priority on the first three as follows: Resource
Development/Distribution, Public Awareness, Mentor Recruitment/Referral,
Technical Assistance/Training, Public Policy and Data Collection/Tracking.
Maine celebrated National Mentoring Month in January. MMP in conjunction with Greater Portland Mentoring Partnership held its 1st Mentor Match-Up Day telethon hosted by WGME 13. 400 individuals responded to the request for mentors. The 2nd Maine Mentoring Day at the Maine State Capitol Hall of Flags was held in March to celebrate and encourage next steps. The Governor and First Lady were recognized for their efforts on behalf of Maine’s children. The U.S. Postal commemorative stamp artist, Lance Hidy was in attendance and eleven other groups and individuals were honored. Along with the help of two Communities for Children AmeriCorps VISTAs, MMP pursued intensive networking; updated and expanded the list of known school and community based mentoring programs; compiled a Maine Interfaith Mentoring manual for building community of faith and school partnerships; further developed MMP’s website; built resource development collaborations with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Coalition, Maine State GEAR UP, and Region #3 Workforce Investment Act Career Centers; and provided training and increased technical assistance to new and existing mentoring providers. Year 2002 ended with efforts being developed to address mentoring in conjunction with aspirations to career and postsecondary education.