“I know that I am going somewhere.” JMG and Opportunity Passport® lift up Maine foster care youth to pursue their dreams
Opportunity Passport® participant Tiffani Melia
Since she was a little girl, Tiffani Melia knew she wanted to help people but didn’t know how. She dreamed of being a doctor or paramedic but did not have a supportive environment that nurtured her dreams. At 15, she entered the foster care system. “I was uprooted from everything that I knew, and I entered survival mode. I felt like I was going nowhere. I felt like I did not have a future.”
While at her second foster home, Tiffani recollected how her transition worker challenged her and sparked something in her to pursue her dreams. She noted her transition worker asked if she wanted to take part in Opportunity Passport® (OP), a financial literacy training program.
JMG serves as the Opportunity Passport® program coordinator in Maine, which provides young Mainers currently or formerly in foster care with financial literacy training and mentoring support. Money saved by enrolled youth is matched dollar for dollar, up to $1,000 per year, toward purchasing specific assets. To date, the program has supported over 700 Maine youth to achieve more than $2 million in saved and matched funds.
“All I knew or associated with the word money was struggle, but I decided to try it anyway. In this training, we learned how to create a budget, how to open a savings account, and how to use OP funds to purchase important needs. And as a bonus, as a 15-year-old, I was paid $100 to attend this training,” Tiffani said.
After graduating from high school, Tiffani enrolled at the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF). The challenges of being an adult and being on her own led her to get into trouble, and she left UMF after two-and-a-half semesters. She had nowhere to go and stayed at a homeless shelter in Waterville. Eventually, Tiffani moved to a transitional housing program for two years.
“I did not want this to be my future. I wanted to be successful, although I felt stuck. But with the support and encouragement of staff, I re-enrolled in online classes until I was ready to go back to UMF, and this is where the OP program changed everything for me,” she stated.
At 21, she got her license and used her match Opportunity Passport® funds to purchase her first car. “It was a 2001 Saturn hatchback wagon that was just under $1,000, and it was a real beater,” Tiffani exclaimed. “I cannot tell you how good the drive back to my apartment felt. I felt on top of the world. I couldn’t stop smiling. I felt my world changing. I did this for myself.”
With the support of Opportunity Passport®, she graduated from UMF in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation services. Using match funds and the money she saved before graduating, she bought her second car, a reliable 2008 Prius. Tiffani hopes to attend graduate school and fulfill her dream of becoming an art therapist and noted that “At 25, I have had to work through many challenges that no one my age should have to work through. Thanks to the OP program, I don’t feel like those challenges will break me. Most importantly, it gave me back my dreams again. I know that I am going somewhere.”
Invest in the lives of young Mainers. When you donate to JMG, we can deliver on our mission to provide a continuum of support, create opportunity and economic security, and help students feel safe while having a sense of belonging. Together, with your investment, we can prepare young Mainers for their future.