EDUCATION FOR PARENTS & CHILDREN
Family Futures Downeast( FFD) is a two-generation college program. It’ s unique because FFD coaches help parents enroll in college with a group of peers, while connecting their children with high quality education programs.
Fifty Washington County families were enrolled in FFD at the close of 2025. Parents worked with FFD Family Coaches on education goals, employment pathways and small business ownership plans.
Sunrise County Economic Council is one of six FFD partners. Learn more about FFD at familyfuturesdowneast. org
Above: FFD debuted a new logo in 2025, designed by local artist, Alison Brynn Ross.
Since 2016, FFD Parents Have Earned:
9 26
Bachelor’ s Degrees
37
Professional Licenses Certificates and Certifications
Associate Degrees
109of
Value
FFD parent and UMM student Lou Torrey spoke about the support she receives as a student-parent.
Real World Skills
FFD parents participated in skillbuilding workshops hosted by the Community Caring Collaborative and University Credit Union, focused on interviewing skills and understanding credit and credit scores.
A Full Circle Moment
Children from the first FFD cohort in 2016 graduated high school in 2025. Five of those students began college at Washington County Community College( WCCC) and the University of Maine at Machias( UMM) in the fall.
Parent Perspective
Parent leaders participated in several convenings in 2025:
2025 FFD Graduates at University of Maine Machias
• Ending Hunger in Maine by 2030
• Jobs for the Future’ s planning on Rising Futures Maine
• Maine’ s 2Gen Summit
• The 2025 SCEC Economic Summit
• The Ascend at the Aspen Institute’ s forum in Washington, D. C., on student-parents.
10 | SCEC 2025 Annual Report