Public Health Youth Engagement Specialist

Goodwill NNE's Public Health AmeriCorps (PHA) program places members with community organizations in Maine to address CDC determined public health needs for the most underserved populations. Maine communities are home to pockets of refugees and immigrants, in cities and towns like Lewiston, Portland, and Cherryfield, ME. New American youth face significant barriers to success—often influenced by trauma and chaos in their past, learning a new language, and adapting to a new culture—and frequently enter the education system significantly behind their peers. Public Health Youth Development members strive to narrow this gap by increasing social and emotional skills and academic engagement among students, grades 4-12, who have been impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), including immigrant and refugee youth (grades 4–12). Members support a portfolio of youth through mentoring, school skills support, social and emotional wellness, and community engagement, while building organizational capacity.

Public Health Youth Development (PHYD) members are placed in Maine schools and nonprofits throughout Portland, Lewiston, Brunswick, Westbrook, South Portland, Biddeford, and the MidCoast and Downeast regions to implement the Goodwill Youth Development Model. Host sites include: Portland Public Middle Schools, Gateway Community Services, Portland Housing Authority, Center for Grieving Children, South Portland Schools, Intercultural Community Center, My Place Teen Center, Lewiston High School, Brunswick Schools District, Maine Seacoast Mission, UMaine 4-H Camps, and the River Runners program through Old Town YMCA.