A class at the University of Maine at Presque Isle has been doing a service-learning project this semester. The project this year has been focused on the Women’s Reentry Center in Windham, Maine. Previously in Bangor and Alfred, Maine, the center is to help women who just got out of prison.
The center is a place where women want to change and seek help. The women who are in the center should want to live a crime-free life and want to better themselves. The women who are at this center have children of their own, and they also want to be a better example for their children. One of the students in the presentation said, “This center is for women to come and make sure that they are ready to face the real world and to be there for their children.”
During the University Day presentation, the class members talked about how they are helping these women by fundraising for them and their families. They decided that they would do Monday Bake Sales with coffee where they sell baked goods, and they also have donation boxes set up around campus. They also had a 3 on 3 tournament on April 21 which was a basketball game where three people played against three other people.
With this service-learning project, they had challenges and successes. Some of the challenges were that they needed corporate approval. For example, Dunkin’ Donuts was nice enough to give them free coffee to sell. But other stores would not do the same. The class members there said this can be difficult to ask for because it is not an easy thing to tell people that they are fundraising for women who just got out of jail. Also, there are many competing fundraisers and they understand that many college students do not have money to buy something from the bake sale.
Some of their successes were that they were able to get some stores to help them fundraise money, such as Dunkin’ Donuts. The class is also going on a class trip in May to deliver the toys and other items that they were able to get for these women and their families.
The class members have also raised $230 and they are currently selling raffle tickets in the hope that they make an additional $200 by the end of this service project.
Lisa Leduc, who teaches the class, said, “This project is important because community and family support will help these women successfully transition out of prison. The students in the class have been learning about the reentry issues faced by female offenders and this project is an opportunity for them to have an impact on this population in Maine.”
As stated before, the project is still ongoing so if anyone would like to donate, they can do so.
