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Habitat for Humanity of York County has selected its partner family. The lucky family is Janalee and Orion Moquin who are currently living in the Town of York. Janalee is a 40 year old single mother and Orion is her 13 year old son. The Moquins have lived in Maine since 2004 when they arrived from Massachusetts.
Currently employed by the Town of York, Janalee previously worked in a variety of social service agencies most which focused on teenagers in need. Her dream and her plan – actually her five-year plan – when she moved to Maine were to become a homeowner within five years and that will now be a reality.
Orion is an engaging and articulate teenager who has been home schooled his entire life. Janalee is the founder of an “eclectic” Home Schooling Club in York named “A LA CARTE” that provides opportunities for other home schooling families through a monthly calendar of events hosting activities, community service projects and field trips.
According to Janalee, “Orion is actually ‘unschooled’ a form of home schooling in which learning happens naturally and depends on the child’s personal interests.” Orion’s experiential learning means not only that he is learning outside a classroom, but that he’s out in the “real world” experiencing “real things” on a first hand basis. Orion and his mother volunteer together at different locations within the community, some on a weekly basis, as at the York Hospital working in the Cafe and with the Bridges Program. Others are on an “as needed” basis, such at the York Food Pantry. The Annual Festival of “Fostering” Trees, an event that raises money for youth in York County foster care, was founded by the Moquins and is now in its 4th year.
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 Asked about her son’s name, Janalee explained that she chose Orion’s name because it was Greek and since Orion was conceived through invitro fertilization, a test tube baby with an anonymous donor who was Greek, she wanted him to have some Greek heritage. Some of Janalee’s ancestors on her father’s side were Native American.
The Moquins, you can see, are clearly not your typical New England family but their connection to one another and to Maine is something special. They will realize their five-year plan when they move into their new home at 8 Hemlock Ave. in York at the end of 2009. |
