User:Lewistonme

The Downtown Education Collaborative is a partnership of Lewiston-Auburn's academic institutions and three community partners. The core partners are Andover College, Bates College, Central Maine Community College, the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College, the Lewiston Public Library, Lewiston Adult Education, and Empower Lewiston, a non-profit community organization established to serve Lewiston’s downtown neighborhood. DEC partners have pledged to work together to pursue community-based educational work in and with the underserved neighborhoods of Lewiston, Maine.

History
The collaborative members of the DEC came together, after several years of discussion, around a core set of shared values and the vision that as a collaborative the DEC would enable its members to meet community needs more effectively than any could do on their own. In addition, the collaborative would foster interchange among institutions with diverse student bodies, missions, and expertise, and catalyze new models of engaged teaching, research, and educational practice. With these goals in mind, the formation of the DEC was realized through its official launch into the community in the spring of 2008.

Collaboration Members

 * Andover College
 * Bates College
 * Central Maine Community College
 * University of Southern Maine, Lewiston-Auburn
 * Empower Lewiston
 * Lewiston Adult Education
 * Lewiston Public Library

Core Goals
The core goals of the DEC center around fostering beneficial relationships in the Lewiston area. The first goal of DEC is to bring the resources and skills of the Colleges of the Androscoggin into partnership with the downtown community through collaborative projects and programs. The second goal of DEC is to foster inter-college collaboration, and develop usable models of inter-college collaboration. The third goal of DEC is to create a common space for democratic dialogue, learning and action.

Projects
DEC has three priority theme areas for projects: Community Health & Nutrition, Community & Economic Development and Education & Literacy. In the health arena, free blood pressure clinics have previously been held at the DEC, while an ongoing Community Food Assessment identifying food needs and assets in Lewiston as well as avenues for enhancing nutrition and food security. Past work in the Community Devleopment area includes a photo-journalist project entitled "Envisioning Lewiston." Current projects in this area include the Digital Divide Project (a free computer lab to the public, including career and computer workshops) and the College Guide (an online, interactive guide of local businesses and events).