The Courageous Steps Project, after a 2 year hiatus, held its' Annual Dinner to recognize the following individuals for their contributions to The Courageous Steps Project and its' programs. It was a great evening to reconvene and celebrate our accomplishments, while looking forward to the promising future we have in store. Thank you to Machias Savings Bank for sponsoring our event and Morgan Hill Event Center for hosting. Congratulations to the following award recipients:

The Courageous Steps Project received a matching grant from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development to support the equipment and technology upgrades at the Green House Village Preschool and throughout the Courageous Steps Project.

The total matching grant amount is $13,900. Matching funds are needed to finish the project. This is the first time that Courageous Steps has received a grant through the USDA. 

"We are so pleased to move forward with this project that has been a long time coming" said founder & Chairman/CEO Connor J. Archer. Archer adds that the project has been in the planning stages for over a year now, and this grant will be a huge step towards starting the project. 

Through this grant, the Green House Village Preschool will have updated systems and equipment to respond to more needs based on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides the technology upgrades which will include laptops and tablets, new furniture will be added, and outside equipment will also be incorporated. Ensuring that each child and staff member have access to quality equipment is a huge priority for Archer. 

These earmarked funds do require matching funds to start the project, which we hope to have in place by the end of the year. 

"We are looking to raise the remaining $25,819 to start this project. We are confident that we will be able to begin the project by late 2022, early 2023" adds Archer. 

If you are interested in contributing, please email Connor Archer at: [email protected]. Be on the lookout for a giving campaign page as well. That will be made available within the next couple of weeks. 

An annual tradition has continued to grow and impact schools all over Eastern Maine. For the 9th year, the Courageous Steps Project donated school supplies to 27 schools all over Eastern Maine. From Howland to Bucksport, students will benefit from our donations for the upcoming school year. 

"It is important that students have all the necessary tools to succeed for the upcoming school year...no one should have to choose between food and school supplies" said founder & Chairman/CEO Connor J. Archer. 

Courageous Steps received several donations and raised over $2,000 to support this year's efforts. Through the generosity of many, students all over the region will benefit from this annual program. 

"It truly takes a village to make this all happen each and every year. Thank you to our volunteers, supporters, and partners for your contributions and generosity to make our 9th annual campaign the best yet" added Archer. 

Next year marks the 10th annual event. Archer says that there are plans to make next year's campaign bigger and better than ever. 

For more information on how you can get involved with this annual campaign, you can visit the back-to-school drive section of our website: ​http://www.thecourageousstepsproject.org/back-to-school-drive.html

The Courageous Steps Project is the proud recipient of a recent grant through the Walmart Foundation in Houlton for the growth and expansion of the Operation Find Me initiative into the Northern region of the state. 

The grant will be used to help create resource maps and materials for those schools and engage with the communities in that region in the coming months. 

Operation Find Me is a wandering prevention initiative through our organization that was established in 2019 to support children, parents, and communities in establishing resources to be more aware of hazards such as swimming pools, busy roadways, and forested areas that could pose a danger for children and young adults with various abilities and challenges. 

The Courageous Steps Project recently hosted it's 9th Annual Back-To-School Drive on Tuesday August 16th from 10am-5pm. This year's event had one of it's best turnouts yet, with the generosity of many donors including long-time community partners. 

"This year was one of our best years yet in terms of support" said Founder & Chairman/CEO Connor Archer. Archer adds that with the support, we can continue to maintain the level of support that we have done over the years. 

"This year required more donations due to the nature of the economy and it's impacts with the supply chain" added Archer. 

School supplies will be distributed to nearly 2 dozen schools once again the week of August 22nd-26th and will be sorted later this coming week. There will be a last chance collection drive on Tuesday August 16th from 3-7 at Governor's Restaurant in Old Town. Online donations will close on Wednesday August 17th. 

If you are looking for school supplies for the upcoming year, you are encouraged to reach out to your local school. 

PUBLIC NOTICE 

07-12-2022
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The Courageous Steps Project intends to file an application for Federal assistance with the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development. This assistance is needed for the purpose of funding new equipment for the Green House Village Preschool, a program of The Courageous Steps Project. Any interested party(s) may submit public comment on this matter to: [email protected], by Friday July 22nd, 2022. 

The Courageous Steps Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based out of Eastern Maine that strives to help children and young adults with various abilities and challenges.

Greetings Courageous Steps Supporters / Partners, 

It has been a busy first 6 months of 2022, with lots of growth occurring. It truly has been a busy stretch for our organization and will continue to be busy for the foreseeable future. Here are just some highlights from the past few months: 

Green House Village Preschool: Our largest program is about to add more services to better support our children (and families). Through expanding our offerings, we will be able to support more families and extend their programming options to better serve their specific needs. This is just the beginning of some exciting changes we plan to be implementing for the remainder of 2022. 

Courageous Steps also received a $7500 grant for the Green House Village Preschool which will benefit programming throughout the remainder of 2022. 

Operation Find Me: Courageous Steps received a $1,000 grant through the Walmart Foundation to continue its' work on expanding the initiative into the Hancock county region. This will occur over the next few months. More plans are in the works to help expand into other regions of Maine. Our initiative website is also going through an upgrade so please be patient as we work through this update. 

One Word Challenge: The students of Marshwood Middle School completed their One Word Challenge which was the first One Word Challenge since 2019. Thank you to the students and staff for being our first school in Southern Maine to participate in this impactful initiative. You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZE1EjlCoZk

Wishlist Initiative: The Courageous Steps Project has awarded several donations to schools / organizations through our Wishlist Initiative this year. We were able to award donations to Unified Basketball programs that participated in our March festival, and also approved many requests submitted on our website. 

Scholarship Fund: Courageous Steps recently awarded nearly $2,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors from Old Town High School and Foxcroft Academy. Congratulations to Logan Gardner of Old Town High School and Connor Plante from Foxcroft Academy for receiving scholarships. It is a pleasure to continue awarding scholarships to support the next steps of our scholars. 

Events: We've had a very productive spring season of events. Thank you to those that have supported our events in 2022, many of which have returned after a 2 year hiatus due to COVID-19. We have our 2nd Annual Golf Scramble coming up on Monday July 11th, and our 9th Annual Back-To-School Drive coming up on Wednesday August 3rd. In addition, we have our Costumes & Cocktails Halloween event returning on Saturday October 29th. You can find more details on all these events on our website. 

Future Growth: I have been working aggressively with our team to continue finding ways we can grow and respond to the needs of those in our communities. With the impacts of COVID-19 really starting to come to the forefront, it is more important that we do what we can to support the expansion of programming and services to better support children and young adults with various abilities and challenges. In the coming months, I will be announcing major steps we are taking to support these efforts. 

Connecting with Connor: Starting this summer, I will be doing more to reach out to families of children and young adults in our communities to learn more about how we as an organization can respond to their needs. A series of free webinars and/or discussions will take place for the remainder of 2022. As always, you can reach out to me via email at: [email protected]. 

On Thursday June 9th, founder & Chairman/CEO Connor Archer awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the Step Forward Scholarship Fund to Old Town High School graduating senior Logan Gardner in pursuit of her post-secondary educational path. 

Courageous Steps has awarded many scholarships since 2015 to graduating high school seniors at Old Town High School (where Courageous Steps originated from) and has continued to expand it's scholarships to benefit other students around the Eastern Maine region. 

"It is our pleasure to continue supporting our young scholars as they pursue their next chapter. Courageous Steps has always been committed to supporting our high school seniors and we hope to continue expanding our scholarships in the next couple of years" said Founder & Chairman/CEO Connor Archer. 

The other recipient this year was Connor Plante from Foxcroft Academy who has received a $750 scholarship from our Step Forward Scholarship Fund.

"Both stories were extremely moving and inspiring and we could not be happier with our selections" adds Archer. 

The Courageous Steps Project is seeking to expand its' scholarship fund to award more scholarships in 2023 and 2024. But we need the help of our supporters and partners to make this happen. Please reach out to Connor Archer if you are interested in contributing at: [email protected]. 

The Courageous Steps Project received a $1,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation to expand our initiative efforts into other communities around the state of Maine. This grant will directly support the development of resource sheets / maps and outreach in the Hancock county region. 

"Courageous Steps continues to have a growing presence in other communities around Eastern Maine and beyond. We are thrilled to be expanding this 4 year old initiative into other parts of Maine" said Founder & Chairman/CEO Connor J. Archer. 

Archer adds that Courageous Steps has other plans to expand the initiative into all regions of Maine in the coming months. "We have a plan to expand into other regions of Maine, to ensure that all communities have the necessary resources for preventing incidents of wandering in our communities" said Archer. 

The Courageous Steps Project's Operation Find Me Initiative was founded in 2018 to provide wandering prevention resources to schools, families, public safety agencies, and communities to better inform the public on surrounding areas in our communities all over Maine. The initiative was kickstarted through a generous grant from the Wireless Foundation of Giving. To learn more about this initiative and other initiatives under The Courageous Steps Project, you are encouraged to visit our website and follow our Facebook page. 

The Courageous Steps Project is pleased to announce that it's a recipient of a $7500 through the Maine Community Foundation's Penobscot Valley Health Association Fund. These funds will directly impact our biggest community program, the Green House Village Preschool, in supporting further collaboration and professional development within our current daily schedule. 

"We are committed to support our early childhood education team. Anyway we can further their development, allows us as a program to grow and reach more children and their families" says Founder & Chairman/CEO Connor J. Archer. 

Over the past year, Courageous Steps has gone through transformational growth that has involved adding a new early childhood program, the return of in-person events, and the further expansion into other areas of Maine slowly. 2022 is already surpassing 2021 in many ways.  

"This grant will make an immediate impact in our programming as we head into the summer and fall months" adds Archer. 

The Courageous Steps Project is undergoing some major special projects in the coming months as well. You are encouraged to stay connected to the organization's website and social media pages for more information. 

For any questions on this grant, please contact Connor J. Archer at: [email protected]. 

The Courageous Steps Project, and its programs, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that strives to help children and young adults with various abilities and challenges in Eastern Maine, giving them the tools they need to succeed in school and in life.