This page will be updated periodically. Please check back if you don’t see what you’re looking for or email Hamza Abdi at the Harward Center.  Please note that during the pandemic, almost all community engagement will be remote. For more information, click here.

Remote Engagement

Mentoring

Big Brothers Big Sisters: One-on-one weekly one-hour matches with elementary school children at Connors Elementary School.  Email Jennifer Cartmell.

Montello Mentoring: One-on-one weekly half-hour matches with elementary school children at Montello Elementary School. Email Lauren Nudi.

Tutoring and Enrichment Programs

Hillview After-School Program: Youth enrichment activities. Email Georgia Moses.

Tree Street Youth: Tutoring and college prep for middle- and high-school students. Email Meg Young.

Lewiston Public Library:

• homework help for high school students. Email Ilze Smidt.
• reading through the BookReach program to preschoolers. Email Marcela Peres.

Book Buddies: Reading to early elementary-age children during the school day. Email Chloe Baylor.

Poland Regional High School Girls’ Group: Meet biweekly for college-positive activities. Email Neeshi Hullavarad.

Root Cellar: Tutoring youth. Email Alyssa Morgosh.

Lewiston Schools Computer Science: Supporting kids in learning to program. Email Alicia Biggs.

Promise Early Education: Head Start program. Email Monica Redlevske.

Lewiston Public Schools (Geiger Elementary): Reading project with the Diverse Book Finder. Email Cindy Gish.

Other K-12 Opportunities

BatesConnect: A new online platform that allows students to upload educational materials, videos, narrated powerpoint presentations, etc. for K-12 teachers to use with their students. More information and examples of student work are available here: https://www.bates.edu/harward/bates-connect/batesconnect-faq/

Curriculum/Outreach Material Development

An Angel’s Wing: Substance use disorder. Email Debra York.

Boys and Girls Club: Youth programming. Email Gary Violette.

Blake Street Towers: Connect with elderly or younger disabled residents through weekly phone or Zoom conversations. Email Annika Mirchandani.

Electoral Engagement

Opportunities to help with voter registration. Email Amalia Herren-Lage.

The Arts

ArtVan: Mobile arts therapy work developing materials with non-profits in Lewiston-Auburn. Email Casey Kelley.

Arts Programming at Hillview Family Development: Weekly art projects with youth aged 6-16. Email Casey Kelley.

ArtWalk L/A: Create short performance videos for inclusion in an upcoming ArtWalk L/A (all artistic genres welcome). Email Alison Gibbs.  

Immigrant Integration Programming

YWCA: Conversational English with non-native speakers. Email Melanie LaMore Gagnon. 

Criminal Justice Related Work

College Guild: Engage with incarcerated individuals through a well-organized program. Email Madeline Polkinghorn.

Maine Prisoner Re-Entry Network: Continue the “Squashing Stigma” series this fall by keeping new content flowing on our pages. Email Bruce Noddin.

Marketing and Social Media

An Angel’s Wing: Substance use disorder. Email Debra York.

Center for Wisdom’s Women: Help with the annual campaign. Email Sue Kingsland.

Community Concepts: Help with the annual campaign, annual report, photography, videography, editing videos, prep for interviews, etc. Email Ruby Bean.

Literacy Volunteers: Provide technical support for tutors regarding the use of Zoom as a teaching tool for adults. Email Tahlia Chamberlain.

Maine Gun Safety Coalition: Redesign website and expand social media presence. Email Geoff Bickford. 

In-person off-campus opportunities

Please note that all of the opportunities below require a signed MOU from the student and the organization.

No Contact Work

YWCA: Historical materials/records project. The records are in a designated, locked room that is nowhere near public access to the building (nor other offices). Material needs to be digitized and then organized and made into a presentation, preserving the records and sharing with the community. Email Melanie LaMore Gagnon.

Tree Street Youth: Create/build play structures and work on outside play areas. Email Keenan Shields.

St. Mary’s Nutrition Center: Pick up food packages and deliver to individuals; must have a car. Email Tricia Cook.

Low Contact Work

Safe Voices: Assist in cataloguing and synthesizing primary source historical documents from the last 40 years of the agency’s operation, the first step in a multi-part history project. The documents cannot leave the building, but the project would be socially distanced; the student would be in a closed-door office at the Lewiston location. They would work in this office either by themselves or with one other staff member practicing more than 6 ft of distancing and wearing masks. Email Victoria Stanton.

Food Accessibility

• Trinity Soup Kitchen: Help package meals for distribution. Email Martha Reyes.  
• Lots to Gardens: Community gardening. Email Anna Maheu.
• Good Shepherd Food Bank: Preparing food for distribution throughout the state. Email Anna Maheu.

Medium Contact Work

Calvary Methodist Church: Free Sunday morning takeout curbside breakfasts for the community. Help to prepare meals for walk-up curbside distribution. Email Marty Deschaines.

Lewiston Recreation Department: Assistance and expertise from Student Athletes at Bates for soccer, field hockey, volleyball and basketball. Email Jason Hanken.