SMCC Foundation Report 2022-23

PRESIDENT CASSIDY

President of Southern Maine Community College

It’s hard to believe that we are already well into 2023. Our South Portland and Brunswick campuses returned to a normal fall semester start, and the energy we feel from this return brings us hope for the future.

Situated on the shores of Casco Bay, and home to one of the country’s most beautiful college campuses, SMCC provides countless opportunities for students to gain job skills or to start their college career, and for businesses looking for support in training employees.

SMCC offers eight pathways of focus with a broad range of programs and training

designed to meet students’ needs. With over 65 offerings from short-term training to certificate and degree programs, and courses at our two campuses, online, and at community locations, students can choose a program that fits their life. Whether they enter the workforce or continue their studies after completing their education, SMCC is here to set them up for success.

It is an exciting time at SMCC with Maine’s Free Tuition Scholarship available to recent high school graduates. However, the need for financial support for both those who do and do not qualify for the Free College Scholarship is noteable. Students needs assistance not only with tuition and fees, but with the costs for housing, books, supplies, child care, food, and other daily essentials. Additionally, the need for

capital improvements to ensure our on-campus facilities are updated, expanded, and designed to support instructional needs is essential.

That is where your support of the SMCC Foundation plays a vital role. Whether you are a former students, family member, business owner, educator or philanthropist you all walk with us in our journey to help transform lives and communities. Your continued gracious support allows us to welcome, prepare and inspire all to learn, succeed, and lead.

Joe Cassidy

MARK DUVAL

Chair of the SMCC Foundation

As Chair of the Southern Maine Community College Foundation Board, I am so proud and excited by the recent successes of the Foundation. In 2022 alone, SMCC awarded nearly $715,000 to just over 330 students in scholarships to help support their educational endeavors. Those funds directly impact students with scholarships, emergency stipends, and technology. Our annual Light on the Point event successfully raised funds while honoring the outstanding work done by our community partners, alums and SMCC staff.

Through endowments and donations towards scholarships, the Annual and SeaWolves Athletics Club, capital improvements and more, our donors significantly impact our students’ lives, families, and communities. As a local business leader and President of the Keystone Property Group, I have seen firsthand what the support from area businesses, community supporters, College alumni, faculty, and staff means to our students. I offer my sincere thanks to all of you.

Best,

Best, Mark Duval

GIVING HIGHLIGHTS

The impact of your gifts

IN FY 2022:

$277,093 DONATED IN SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS

>> >>

1,332 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS RECEIVED

332 RECIPIENTS AWARDED SCHOLARSHIPS

KEY STATS

FROM THE FALL 2021 STUDENT FINANCIAL WELLNESS SURVEY

59% HOUSING INSECURE

of students reported being of students had GIVING MATTERS

24% VERY LOW FOOD SECURITY

66% WORRY ABOUT HAVING ENOUGH MONEY to pay for school

of students of students indicated

49% EXPERIENCING GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER

HOW TO Give

The Southern Maine Community College Foundation is an independent nonprofit 501(c) organization dedicated to advancing the mission of SMCC which is to transform lives and communities through education and training and to welcome, prepare and inspire all to learn, succeed and lead.

This community support enables the College to enhance academic programs, revitalize classrooms and equipment and provide scholarship support for deserving students.

1 2 3 4 5

A gift to the SMCC Annual Fund provides unrestricted funds for the College to use where the need is greatest. These gifts can provide immediate support to SMCC students and provide the College flexibility to address unforeseen opportunities or unexpected needs.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Make a lifelong impact on a student’s life by contributing to or creating a scholarship. We welcome gifts of any size. There is a minimum $1,500 annual donation to establish a named scholarship and a minimum $30,000 donation to establish an endowed scholarship. The SMCC Foundation has a Memorial Scholarship Fund if you would like to give in memory of a friend or loved one and do not wish to create a named scholarship.

PLANNED GIVING & SMCC LEGACY SOCIETY

Planned gifts can support scholarships, capital projects or academic programs of your choice. Through a will or other legal means, your planned gift will have a lasting impact and ensure that higher education remains accessible and affordable.

EMERGENCY HOUSING ASSISTANCE FUND

A gift to the SMCC Emergency Housing Assistance Grants Fund helps support students who are facing housing insecurity so they may continue their access to education. Grants will be awarded through the Dean of Students’ office and only to students who are facing imminent homelessness and are actively working with the office to seek long-term housing plans. Grants may be used to help students secure safe housing and meal plans on campus. The risk of homelessness can greatly impact a student’s academic and personal well-being.

SEAWOLVES ATHLETICS CLUB

The nonprofit SeaWolves Athletic Club provides financial support for SMCC’s intercollegiate athletic programs. Through fundraising, the club helps improve the college’s facilities and equipment to give SMCC student-athletes the best possible athletic experience.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO GIVE NOW : contact the SMCC Foundation at 207-741-5559, foundation@smccME.edu or visit www.smccME.edu/foundation

VANESSE BARNES, TUFTS UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL COACH

Vanese Barnes was a multi-sport star at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay. First-team All-Conference in Maine High School Soccer and honorable mention in basketball. Captain of both teams, she had a lot of options.

“I was trying to figure out school and I had no idea what I wanted to do,” Barnes said. “I was looking at all these big schools and then I started to come down earth and realize a small school would be best for me to learn about myself and what I wanted. SMCC became a last-minute choice, but ultimately it was the best choice I could have made.”

Barnes said she immediately found herself part of a family. “We get to know so many people, from advisors to teachers and within the athletics teams. SMCC clearly had a strong culture that had built an incredible sense of community.”

Barnes spent two years playing basketball for the SeaWolves. A tenacious guard, the two-year starter captained the team in her sophomore campaign and made back-to-back United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Tournament appearances.

Barnes graduated from SMCC with her education degree before transferring to Saint Joseph’s College. After graduating from Saint Joe’s with her Early Education degree, Barnes returned to SMCC to become an assistant women’s basketball team coach.

Barnes took her passions to Tufts University, where she is currently the Women’s Basketball Athletics Future Leaders Fellowship Assistant Coach. As part of this two-year program, Barnes will pursue a master’s degree in Diversity and Inclusion Leadership within the Tufts Graduate School of Arts & Sciences while serving as a graduate assistant coach for the Jumbo women’s basketball team.

Barnes just completed her first season as Jumbos assistant coach, where Tufts won the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship and reached the NCAA Division III Elite 8. That road started at SMCC.

“I’m thankful for my time at SMCC,” Barnes said. “As a student, athlete and coach, everyone I’ve met at SMCC has been super helpful along my journey. The community built at SMCC really set me up for success, and for that, I’m forever grateful.”

JUSTIN FLORES

CARDIOVASCULAR TECHNOLOGIST

Justin Flores was struggling to find his path. He tried college at one school and realized it wasn’t for him. After working at different jobs around Southern Maine, Justin was sitting at the kitchen table with him mother, looking for something new. She read a job description for a cardiovascular technologist and it caught his attention in a big way.

ALUMNI Spotlights

Next thing, the two were searching for schools that had a program. SMCC immediately came up in the search. The South Portland campus was close to home, so he visited and once he did he knew he had found the next chapter in his life.

Flores took full advantage of his time at the SMCC as a threeyear men’s basketball program member and chaired the student activities programming board, which gave him hands-on experience with event management. Flores took that experience, promoted concerts, and managed his own production company for several years.

“SMCC gives such a great one-on-one experience that you won’t get at a bigger university. It really helps you focus in and be able to ask questions as needed,” Flores said. “Combining that personalized experience with work and, of course, the basketball team, provided a challenge that made it much easier to succeed when focusing on my career.”

Flores graduated from SMCC in 2009 with a degree in Cardiovascular Technology and immediately started his career as a Lab Technologist at a Rhode Island Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. After several years of catheterization lab experience, Flores pursued the Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist (RCIS) national certification, allowing him to travel to different hospitals nationwide and perform various types of procedures in other cardiovascular-oriented settings.

Flores has seen his SMCC education take him throughout New England and the Northeast, working in some of the most renowned healthcare facilities while treating patients for the past 14 years. As of 2022, Flores has spent roughly five years in a cardiac catheterization lab and six years in an electrophysiology lab working in many top hospitals across the U.S. Flores currently works as an electrophysiology lab technician at WakeMed in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Flores credits his time at SMCC as the catalyst that helped springboard career advancements within the cardiovascular profession. “SMCC was so fun and a solid learning experience that was the start of so many of my life and career opportunities.”

SMCC receives a donation in excess of $1 million to support students

Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) has been provided with a donation in excess of $1 million from a longtime, anonymous donor to benefit students in hands-on trade programs looking to enter the workforce after graduating.

“This anonymous donor completed a gift of over $1 million directly to the SMCC Foundation,” Cassidy said. “That is a big gift in our world. A requirement of the donation is that the entire gift goes directly to students and that it’s completely spent down in ten years. We’re going to put a million-plus directly into the hands of SMCC students.”

The donor shared with us, “We were originally inspired to give by seeing the hard work of SMCC students first-hand. We’ve beengiving for a while, and now we’re at a place where we feel we can make a real, positive impact on the lives of SMCC students.”

Roger K Williams Foundation commits $170,000 to SMCC Foundation in support of student scholarships

The Roger K Williams Foundation committed to donating $170,000, creating a scholarship in the name of the Foundation’s founder and native Sanford, Mainer, Roger K. Williams to support SMCC students in Applied tech, health science and public safety.

Tom Williams, Roger’s nephew and co-trustee, said his uncle created the Foundation to help hardworking Mainers improve their lives. “Uncle Roger was always huge on education,” Williams said. “We want to help (students) enter a field they enjoy, create a career, give back to the community, and make a good living.”

“This scholarship supports our mission of transforming the communities our students will serve,” President Joe Cassidy said. “Applied technology, health sciences, and public safety are all areas with critical staffing needs and this scholarship will help place our students into the workforce, creating better futures all-around.”

Highlighting the generosity of SMCC supporters.

GIVING SPOTLI

Meet the SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

“I was very honored to receive this scholarship. I’m working hard to maximize my time in college to learn skills that will allow me to give back to my community. The pursuit of education is financial demanding at first, and this has reduced this burden. I am very grateful”

Recipient of the Robert & Betty Chamberlain Scholarship

“Because of this scholarship, I had money for school, which allowed me to be able to afford warm winter gear and my daughter’s extra-curricular activities to help with her Autism and ADHD. It’s because of donations like yours that mother’s like myself can afford school, books, classes, and the necessary tools to succeed. I am studying Behavioral Health and Human Services and I want to help others in situations like mine have the best chances in life.”

“I was an older student going back to school and it was challenging mentally, emotionally, and especially financially. While I saved for years to attend, I hadn’t counted on the impact of COVID-19. My partner is an amazing musician, but because of the pandemic, we faced financial hardship. The scholarship I received meant so much to us, and allowed me to continue working towards my new and exciting career in radiography.”

South Portlandʼs Pleasantdale Hose Company Three Memorial Scholarship to support SMCC Students

South Portland’s Pleasantdale Hose Company Three established an endowed scholarship with a $60,000 investment in memory of all who served the company from 1893-2015. The scholarship will benefit SMCC full- and part-time students in the College’s public safety program.

“We feel it’s important to give back to Mainers to help them begin careers that will serve the state for generations to come,” South Portland Deputy Fire Chief William Collins said.

“This scholarship is coming at a critical time for the first responder workforce,” Cassidy said. “This scholarship will help fill critical staffing needs by training and placing our students in these essential first responder roles.”

GHTS

KRISTINA HOPPE Radiography Student Pownal, ME

LUMIERE BISIMWA Liberal Studies SMCC Foundation Scholarship Recipient

NATASHA BEELER Behavioral Health & Human Services Alexander Scholarship

A Light on the Point

PRESIDENTS AWARD

Prosperity Maine

The Light on the Point is SMCC’s annual event where tribute is paid alumni, faculty, staff and the business community for contributions to College and beyond. It is a celebration of the accomplishments in the SMCC Community and helps raise funds to help students succeed and prepare for bright futures.

A Light on the Point AWARD WINNERS

SAVE THE DATE! Event held annually in November.

ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR

Robert Barrett, owner of Barrett Made and KIT NA Brewing

Given to an alumnus of SMCC who has excelled in their industry and contributed to the greater well-being of the community and the college.

OUTSTANDING BUSINESS AWARD

MaineHealth, Martin’s Point Healthcare, Maine Apprenticeship, and the Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce

Given to a business or organization that has supported the College and/or made a significant impact within the business community.

STAFF/FACULTY MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Andrew Napoli, SMCC Midcoast Maintenance Staff

Given to an SMCC employee who exceeds expectations while promoting the college’s mission to both the internal and external community.

SMCC FOUNDATION BOARD

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

• Mark Duval, Duval’s Service Center - Chair

• Jane Eberle, Retired Director of Business Partnerships South Portland School Department; Past President, South Portland/Cape Elizabeth Community Chamber of Commerce - Vice Chair

• Judith Borelli, Director of Public Affairs/Corporate Citizenship, Texas Instruments - Treasurer

• Michael F. Vaillancourt, Esq., Ainsworth, Thelin & Raftice, P.A. - Secretary

• Joseph Cassidy, Esq., ex-officio voting member - SMCC President

• Julie Ann Chase, ex-officio voting member - SMCC Foundation

DIRECTORS

• Dan Coyne, Senior Vice President, Community Impact and Finance, United Way of Greater Portland

• Edward Gilman, AVP, Communications, Marketing & Government Affairs, Northern Lights Mercy Hospital

• John Boyne, Merrill Lynch, Retired

• Hamza Zmou, SMCC Student Representative

• Marie Herdan, Community Living Coordinator, Living Innovations

• Marty Madden, Merrill Lynch, Global Wealth Management, Financial Advisor

• Josh Reny, Assistant City Manager, City of South Portland

• Matthew Richards, SMCC Associate Dean of Athletics and Alumni Affairs

• Norma Willis, Department Chair, Health Sciences, SMCC Faculty Representative