Growth Council, chamber hire development coordinator

Central Maine Growth Council and the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce have hired Elaine Theriault as a development coordinator.

Theriault has a background in youth development and business. She recently graduated from the Heller School at Brandeis University, earning her master’s degree in business administration in nonprofit management. Before her graduate studies, she was an AmeriCorps member for the Lewiston Housing Authority after receiving a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. As the agency’s aspirations coordinator, she managed an after-school program that developed youths’ social, academic and career skills for postgraduate success.

Care & Comfort CNA honored as Caregiver of the Year

Doris Dunphy, a certified nursing assistant with Care & Comfort, was recognized as Caregiver of the Year by the Homecare and Hospice Alliance of Maine during its annual Blaine House Tea.

Dunphy, who has been with the agency for more than seven years and provides care in the Waterville area, said she did not always plan to become a CNA; it was only after caring for her ailing mother-in-law that she decided to enter the health care field, according to the group.

Care & Comfort provides home health and behavioral health services in 13 Maine counties from its headquarters in Waterville and branches in Bangor, Dover-Foxcroft, Presque Isle and Wilton.

Kennebec Savings awards nonprofits $18,000 through Catalyst Grant

Kennebec Savings Bank President and CEO Andrew Silsby welcomed three area nonprofit organizations and bank employees to an awards reception Friday, announcing winners of the 2017 Catalyst Capacity Building Grant.

Awarded at the reception, held at the Kennebec Savings Bank’s Augusta corporate office, were Kennebec Valley Family Dentistry, the Restorative Justice Institute of Maine and Waterville Area Habitat for Humanity. Community Dividends Director Alicia Wing presented the awards to the three local nonprofit organizations, which will receive up to $18,000 each over a three-year period — $10,000 the first year, $5,000 the second and $3,000 during the final year.

Applications were submitted, through the bank’s new online portal, which a 10-member committee received for review. The committee, composed of Kennebec Savings Bank employees from various departments, processed 11 applications beginning in October before deciding on the three awardees in November.

Bonnie Vaughan is the executive director of Kennebec Valley Family Dentistry, which primarily serves the uninsured. “Seventy-percent of our patients do not have anywhere to go for preventative care and we want to thank Kennebec Savings Bank for providing us more of an opportunity to provide these services to families and children in our area,” Vaughan said, according to a news release from the bank.

Jan Rollins, who partners with the Restorative Justice Institute of Maine at Cony Middle School, said the grant will help change the lives of at-risk youth. “Our mission is to promote a widespread cultural and systemic shift to how Mainers approach wrongdoing by promoting the use of restorative justice in communities, schools and correctional settings across Maine,” Rollins said.

Waterville Area Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Linda Santerre thanked the bank, saying the funding will help that agency’s program, restoring dignity to the lives of those who have hit a bump in the road.

“We’re not just about building houses any longer. Now through our ReStore pilot program, we are able to provide household items to families who need it most, and these individuals are incredibly appreciative. This grant is going to help us continue giving back to our community in ways that are truly making a difference in people’s lives for the better,” she said.

Compiled from contributed releases