Our Story
Year 1 (FY ‘22-’23)
Our Place Portland Inc. is founded!
Community Summer Camp for 20 youth (ages 7-11) with the theme “Shine On!” included explorations into astronomy, astrology, photography, trips to the USM planetarium, Sebago Lake, a basketball session with Blue Wave and lots of fun dancing.
Programs expand to include three after school Youth Mentorship Groups for 20 founding youth.
Goal set for 100 hours of Family Advocacy services between Sept. 22 - Sept. 23.
In February, Libby is recognized as one of 20 Outstanding Women in Maine for her work at Our Place by Coast 93.1 and Hannaford.
Year 4 (FY ‘24-’25)
Year 2 (FY ‘23-24)
Our Place partners with UWSM Brick + Beam Society to expand Community Summer Camp to 40 youth ages 5-12 with the STEAM theme, “The Land, the Sea, Maine, and Me.” Camp includes field trips to Fort Williams Park, Smiling Hill Farm, Dundee Park, and more.
Our Place launches Mentor-in-Training program and hosts its first Leadership Training for 12 founding middle school youth.
Our Place hires school counselor Dacia Desautels as Youth Staff.
Mentorship groups continue for 40 youth from summer camp.
Partnership with Portland Ovations allows youth to attend three professional performances.
In October, Libby moves into a full-time role as Executive Director, with support from the Peter Alfond Foundation.
In 2025, Our Place moves within walking distance to Portland High School on Lancaster Street. We expand to serve more high school Mentors through weekly lunch and learns on Mondays during their free lunch break. Mentors may now receive school credit as interns at Our Place through Portland High School’s ELO office.
Academic Tutoring program launches in partnership with USM Department of Education which serves 25 youth per week through 1:1 tutoring and engages 12 USM Education students.
Youth Mentorship Groups continue to flourish, serving 55 youth weekly.
Summer 2025 theme was, “Superpowers: Heroes, Identity, Community, and Earth’s Patterns.” Using anchor texts from I’m Your Neighbor Books, Thank You Omu, we explored different “superpowers” members of our community have, including our own.
Year 3 (FY ‘24-25)
Our Place hosts its third Community Camp for 55 youth with generous support from the Horizon Foundation and Machias Savings Bank, with the STEAM theme, “Our Support Systems: Family, Nature, Biology, and Community.”15 Mentors-in-Training attend Leadership Training and support summer camps.
In September, Our Place hosted its first back-to-school backpack distribution event thanks to a generous donation from Amazon.
After School Mentorship Groups expand to 6 groups (3 middle school, 3 elementary).
Year 5 (FY ‘25-’26)
In January 2026, Our Place moves again to Grant Street, in walking distance to King Middle School. Mentor lunches continue! We do not miss a beat!
Youth Mentorship Groups continue throughout the school year.
In January/February, Our Place supports families affected by ICE by gathering basic needs supplies and delivering them to homes.
In April, Our Place hosts its second He(ART) Show in partnership with the Chickadeeds. Youth perform dance, poetry, songs, and showcase large identity portraits in a celebration of our community.
Summer 2026 theme was, “Our Story: Healthy Communication, Adaptation and Overcoming, Storytelling Techniques, and Our Future” and included curriculum around the history of communication, safe and healthy communication online, animal adaptations and stories of resilience, poetry and dance as storytelling techniques, and life skills including learning about pathways after high school and financial literacy skills.
Our Place supports 13 Mentors through Driver’s Education and performs 314+ hours of Family Advocacy Services (see Annual Report under “Impact” for more details).
Libby Catania —
20 Outstanding Women of 2023
Our Story
July 2022
Our Place Portland Inc. is founded!
Community Summer Camp for 20 youth (ages 7-11) with the theme “Shine On!” included explorations into astronomy, astrology, photography, trips to the USM planetarium, Sebago Lake, a basketball session with Blue Wave and lots of fun dancing.
Staff includes Libby Catania and volunteers Molly Oehrlein and Fayla Sutton.
August 2022
Our Place’s first fundraising event at Rising Tide Brewing Company called “Shine on Our Place!” included youth photography project from summer camp - a rainbow collection of photos of their neighborhood and people they love in Kennedy Park.
June - July 2023
Due to a generous grant from the Brick and Beam Society of UWSM, we expand summer camp to 40 youth ages 5-12 with the STEAM theme, “The Land, the Sea, Maine, and Me.” Camp includes field trips to Fort Williams Park, Smiling Hill Farm, Dundee Park, and more.
Our Place launches Mentor-in-Training program and hosts its first Leadership Training for 12 founding middle school youth.
Our Place hires school counselor Dacia Desautels and high schooler Chris Michaud as Youth Staff!
July - August 2024
Our Place hosts its third Community Camp for 55 youth with generous support from the Horizon Foundation and Machias Savings Bank, with the STEAM theme, “Our Support Systems: Family, Nature, Biology, and Community.”
15 Mentors-in-Training attend Leadership Training and support summer camps.
Field Trips include hikes with Falmouth Land Trust, visits to Crescent Beach and Kettle Cove, and outings to Happy Wheels, Westbrook Bowling, Round 1 and the movies to see Inside Out 2.
Summer staff includes Dacia, Fayla, Libby, Zeinab, and Chris Michaud.
September 2023
Mentorship groups continue for 40 youth from summer camp.
Partnership with Portland Ovations allows youth to attend three professional performances.
In October, Libby moves into a full-time role as Executive Director, thanks to a generous grant from Peter Alfond Foundation.
September 2024 - Current
In September, Our Place hosted its first back-to-school backpack distribution event thanks to a generous donation from Amazon. We distributed 100 backpacks, water bottles, and other supplies.
After School Mentorship Groups begin for 55 youth and expand to 6 groups (3 middle school, 3 elementary). 15 Mentors-in-Training take turns supporting younger groups. The STEAM theme for the Fall is, “Forces for Good” and will explore physical science and end in a service project.
Our Place hires Christina Ekholm as Mentorship Group Staff.
September 2022 - June 2023
Programs expand to include three weekly after school Youth Mentorship Groups for all 20 founding youth.
Goal set for 100 hours of Family Advocacy services between September 2022 - September 2023.
In February, Libby is recognized as one of 20 Outstanding Women in Maine for her work at Our Place by Coast 93.1 and Hannaford.
Scroll down to listen to the interview!
February 2024
Our Place Portland Inc. hires Fayla Sutton as its full-time Director of Programs!
Goal now expands to 150 hours of Family Advocacy Services.
Staff now includes two college-age interns: Sam and Zeinab, Fayla, Libby, and volunteer Molly Oehrlein.
March 2025
Our Place finds its current space at 190 Lancaster Street in Bayside, meeting the need for youth to have several different spaces to access learning.
The larger space allowed us to expand our services significantly and to launch our Academic Tutoring program in partnership with USM Department of Education which now serves 25 youth per week through 1:1 tutoring and engages 12 USM students studying to become teachers.
As we are in walking distance to Portland High School, we were also able to expand to serve our Mentors, or teen leaders, through lunch and learns on Mondays during their free lunch break. Mentors may now receive school credit as interns at Our Place through Portland High School’s ELO office.