Androscoggin Bank’s MainStreet Foundation has awarded its $25k for Kids grant to the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition (MPAC), a grassroots, BIPOC-led nonprofit organization working to transform Maine’s criminal legal system through advocacy, education, and community-based initiatives. The grant supports programs that help at-risk youth access basic needs, including food, shelter, and security.
Since 2007, MPAC has worked to improve conditions for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, their families, and survivors of harm. Founded and led by people directly impacted by the criminal legal system, the coalition brings firsthand experience to its work, including the challenges of incarceration and reentry. Those challenges are compounded for young people who are system-impacted, which is why MPAC decided to create their Pathways to Promise program.
Pathways to Promise is a comprehensive, trauma-informed mentorship and reentry support program serving approximately 100 youth and their families across Maine each year. Led by Andre “Dre” Hicks, the program works with young people facing significant barriers related to incarceration, poverty, housing instability, interrupted education, trauma, foster care involvement, and family separation.
Unlike many programs, Pathways to Promise begins while youth are still in confinement, including at Long Creek Youth Development Center. There, participants build relationships with mentors like Dre, begin setting goals, and prepare for their return to the community. That support continues after release, giving young people a trusted adult to turn to during a pivotal time in their lives. Mentors advocate for participants, help them navigate unfamiliar systems, attend court hearings, and communicate with Juvenile Community Corrections Officers to support a smoother transition. This support and guidance leaves youth with the ability to realize their full potential, often breaking cycles of instability to become engaged members of our communities.
The $25,000 grant will directly support Pathways to Promise, helping participants obtain state identification and driver’s licenses, access transportation, secure job-ready clothing and haircuts, explore employment opportunities, and receive educational support, financial literacy training, and life-skills development.
“Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition is deeply honored to be the recipient of the $25k for Kids grant from Androscoggin Bank,” said Joseph Jackson, Executive Director of MPAC. “MPAC’s Pathways to Promise program provides mentoring, coaching, caring, and peer support to help Maine’s system-impacted youth navigate systems and develop healthy habits to grow and thrive. Too many of our young people have been exposed to adverse childhood experiences, this grant will help our organization offset that negative impact by exposing youth to positive experiences.”
Androscoggin Bank recently welcomed the MPAC team to its Operations Center in Lewiston, where employees had the opportunity to meet the staff and learn firsthand about the organization’s work.
Ninette Irabaruta, VP, Managing Director of the MainStreet Foundation at Androscoggin Bank, said, “Feeling valued and valuable can be hard enough without additional challenges in the way. For youth who have experienced incarceration, finding a sense of belonging and a path forward can be especially difficult. Behind each of these young people is a desire to reconnect, contribute, and build a positive future. That’s why we’re grateful for the work of Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition’s Pathways to Promise program, which provides mentorship, guidance, and practical support to help youth prepare for a successful transition back into their communities.”
Androscoggin Bank and the MainStreet Foundation are proud to support MPAC now, and in the future, as they continue on their journey to provide better outcomes for young people impacted by the criminal legal system.
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