{"id":13397,"date":"2026-02-05T10:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/?p=13397"},"modified":"2026-02-05T10:57:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:57:20","slug":"maryland-department-of-housing-and-community-development-announces-main-street-maryland-mentorship-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/2026\/02\/05\/maryland-department-of-housing-and-community-development-announces-main-street-maryland-mentorship-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Announces Main Street Maryland Mentorship Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEW CARROLLTON, MD<\/strong> (February 7, 2026) \u2013 Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day today announced the launch of the new Main Street Maryland Mentorship Program. As part of Main Street Maryland\u2019s new three-tier structure<\/a> for community designation, Main Street managers in the Aspiring tier will be paired with one of the eight mentors, who will provide support and guidance to assist communities in developing the skills needed to apply for full Designation at the end of the two-year training program.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur Main Streets are the beating hearts of our communities \u2013 centers of culture, art, community, economic growth and business \u2013 that deserve intentional investment and attention,\u201d said Secretary Day.<\/strong> \u201cThis new mentorship program acknowledges that best practices emerge from local innovation and sharing how communities have realized their revitalization and economic development goals will directly prepare others to become fully Designated Main Streets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eight mentors are highly experienced managers of Designated Main Street Maryland communities and subject matter experts in the Main Street Approach\u2122 with over a century’s worth of experience combined in non-profit management, economic development, neighborhood revitalization, small business development and building inclusive communities. Mentors include Laura Barclay (Takoma Park), Alicia Calhoun (Elkton), Julie Della-Maria (Sykesville), Jenny Erhard (Bel Air), Vickie Grinder (Thurmont), Carmen Hilton (Brunswick), Melinda Kelleher (Cumberland) and Amanda Smit-Peters (Baltimore City). For more information on each of the mentors, click to read their bios<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In partnership with Main Street Maryland, the mentorship program will be led by Julie Della-Maria, Executive Director and Chief DEI Officer for <\/span>Downtown Sykesville Connection<\/span><\/a>. Della-Maria leads Sykesville\u2019s award-winning Main Street revitalization initiatives focused on economic growth, community engagement, and historic preservation. Under her leadership, Downtown Sykesville Connection has been selected twice as a semifinalist for the prestigious <\/span>Great American Main Street Award<\/span><\/a>, first in 2023 and again in 2025, recognizing it as one of the top eight Accredited Main Street America programs out of more than 1,200 across the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur commitment is to deliver Main Street work that meets national standards and raises the bar\u2014every project, every partner, every time. When we elevate the quality of our practice, we elevate impact and reach, improving the daily life of our people, their neighbors, and their families,\u201d <\/span>said Della-Maria. <\/b>\u201cMain Streets are a mosaic of distinct character and culture, but they cannot be a patchwork in their tools and training. Consistent, high-quality frameworks\u2014paired with inclusive engagement and rigorous evaluation\u2014turn local creativity into measurable results. By aligning with the National Main Street Approach and insisting on excellence in implementation, we move beyond isolated wins toward durable, district-wide change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Street Maryland has been transforming communities across the state since 1998. As the official coordinating program for Maryland by the National Main Street Center, the program is housed at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development and focuses on strengthening Maryland\u2019s downtown commercial districts through local investment and revitalization. Learn more about Main Street Maryland on <\/span>the Department’s website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n



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NEW CARROLLTON, MD (February 7, 2026) \u2013 Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day today announced the launch of the new Main Street Maryland Mentorship Program. As part of Main Street Maryland\u2019s new three-tier structure for community designation, Main Street managers in the Aspiring tier will be paired with one of the  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":13398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,26,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-street-maryland","category-neighborhood-revitalization","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13399,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13397\/revisions\/13399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}