WATERVILLE — The Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers recently announced the Harold Alfond Foundation has awarded the nonprofit with a $400,000 grant to support the agency’s Sharon Abrams Teen Parent School Program endowment fund, according to a release from the Maine Children’s Home.

The Teen Parent School, founded in 1974, is an alternative high school program open to pregnant and parenting teens across Maine. The program provides prenatal and parenting instruction, as well as academic and life skills courses. All students are registered as Waterville High School students and work toward earning a Waterville High School diploma.

A group of Maine Children’s Home leaders, staff and board members have worked closely with the foundation to meet their funding criteria and objectives. The grant will be incorporated into the program’s endowment fund, which will generate new revenue each year. These resources will help to provide funding for pregnant and parenting teens to prepare for healthy childbirths, taking care of newborns and guidance to raise their young children. The support includes instruction on childbirth by a registered nurse, social work guidance, case management, child care, educational support towards the students’ high school diplomas and ongoing child-care education.

“We are deeply grateful to the Harold Alfond Foundation for awarding this grant to such an important program. We have been operating our unique model of critical support for pregnant and parenting teens since 1974,” said Rick Dorian, The Maine Children’s Home executive director, said in the release. “The growth of the endowment ensures the agency can continue helping at-risk teens and their babies far into the future.”

The Harold Alfond Foundation’s mission focuses on furthering the legacy of philanthropist Harold Alfond by investing in education, health care, youth development, and other charitable causes that hold the promise of making enduring transformative contributions to the community and Maine.

For more information about The Maine Children’s Home, visit MaineChildrensHome.org.


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