Supporting families and ensuring children are ready to succeed when they enter school, as well as beyond.
* 16% of children in Androscoggin County live in poverty.

A Dynamic Community:
Promoting, supporting, enhancing independence and self-sufficiency
* 49% of local residents cannot read higher than a sixth grade level.

Meeting Basic Needs:
Ensuring individuals and families have food, shelter, clothing and access to services that promote physical and mental well-being.
* 60 people in our community are homeless on any given night.

Life-Long Learning:
Promoting opportunities for job training, education, collaboration and volunteerism.
* In 2004, 200 high school students in our county dropped out of school.

Advocating that individuals and families are safe and protected at all times
* Over 3,000 crimes were committed in Androscoggin County last year.

Back Row (L-R): David and Nicole Pendelton
Front Row (L-R): Bennett, Annabelle and Ethan

“The day after my oldest son Bennett was diagnosed with autism, we came to Sandcastle Preschool and all I could do was cry,” recalled Nicole Pendelton, teacher and mother of three young children who, with her husband, found herself lost and confused following her son’s diagnosis.

Nicole and her husband David of Auburn, consider themselves lucky to have been referred to Sandcastle Preschool, as the program’s highly trained staff of therapists and teachers treated their son while offering them counsel, support and resources.

Sandcastle Preschool Program Foundation, a United Way funded agency, provides a unique, inclusionary education for toddlers and preschoolers. This program offers a mainstream preschool setting with intervention services, such as speech pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and developmental therapy to all types of children, regardless of a family’s income.

“I am in love with the staff here,” remarked Nicole whose three children Bennett age seven, Annabelle age five and Ethan age four, have all attended Sandcastle Preschool. “Like all parents, we want the best for our children no matter what their strengths or weaknesses.”