LEWISTON – The University of Southern Maine/Lewiston-Auburn 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. The program pairs USM students, as mentors, with youth from the downtown area.

Empower Lewiston shared in the planning and organization of the program, and staff helped train the USM student mentors by providing an overview and history of the Lewiston community.

As the youth program progressed, Empower Lewiston offered its expertise in recruiting participants and suggesting organizations and activities that might enrich the youth in the program.

In addition, Empower Lewiston has been 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.”