Article Title: Team & Board

Kara Hay

As president and CEO of Penquis, Kara leads Maine’s largest community action agency, a $60 million organization dedicated to helping individuals and families become safe, stable, connected and financially secure.  She serves as president of Penquis subsidiaries MaineStream Finance, Rape Response Services, Inc., Penquis Development, Inc. and Penquis Housing, Inc.  Kara is a board member of Community Housing Capital, corporator of Northern Light Health, vice chair and governance committee member of Northern Light Acadia Hospital Board of Trustees, member of the Bangor-area Community Health Leadership Board, member of the Alliance for Addiction and Mental Health Services, advisory board member of The Schmidt Institute, and past president of the Maine Community Action Association.  She is a recognized leader in the field of community development, receiving an Emerging Leader Award and a Practitioner of the Year Award from the National Neighborworks® Association.  Kara is a Maine native and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre from the University of Maine, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and a Master of Arts degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Argosy University, Hawaii.

Heather Massow

Heather has worked with Penquis for ten plus years. Heather currently works with clients who are facing foreclosure, teaches homebuyer education classes, and works one-on-one with pre-purchase clients to help them become credit-ready to purchase a home. Previously, she worked in the mortgage banking industry for about 14 years processing, originating, and closing loans. Recently, Heather joined the board of the Bangor chapter of Habitat for Humanity and is on the Family Selection Committee. Heather especially enjoys working with her foreclosure clients and finds the process rewarding. In her spare time, you will most likely find Heather riding her Morgan horse Magic or doing anything horse-related.

Jim L. Macomber

Jim has worked with us for fifteen plus years. Jim is responsible for providing technical assistance and business counseling to existing and start up microbusiness owners. Duties include instructing the Incubator Without Walls program and providing one-on-one technical assistance to microenterprises. Jim is also now supporting our housing counseling and financial coaching programs and is a HUD-certified Housing Counselor. Jim is a past recipient of the SBA Home-based Business Champion Award for both Maine and New England. Jim has “real world” entrepreneurial experience as the business owner of a website design and maintenance company.

Rebecca Grant

Rebecca Grant helps individuals save for a home, car, business, or emergencies using our Family Development Accounts, a match savings program.

Rebecca started full-time with Penquis CAP in 2003 as a Client Service Representative working with Section-8 clients. Rebecca was able to grow from there where she moved on to be a Fiscal Specialist and ended up as an Occupancy Specialist. In October of 2012, she was given an opportunity to transfer to be a Client Service Representative for the Home Repair and Lead Program and there Rebecca worked one on one with clients for two years until she was promoted to the Administrative Assistant. Rebecca joined our team in October of 2019 where she has seamlessly taken over the Financial Coaching & Savings Coordinator role. Rebecca enjoys relaxing with her husband at their family camp and traveling anytime they can.

Dee Williams

Dee joined Penquis in August 2021, bringing to MaineStream over 15 years experience in Leadership, Lending, and Finance. Dee is excited to bring her broad spectrum of knowledge, understanding and compassion, to our clients and team. Dee has developed a strong ability to offer outside the box thinking techniques when traditional financing isn’t quite possible. She understands the unfortunate of difficult life situations that impact a client’s ability to obtain financing. Dee is driven to put forth the Mission of MaineStream Finance and has a true desire to make a difference for the clients of whom we serve. With deep roots in Rural Downeast Maine, Dee is excited to broaden the outreach of the Home Ownership and Small Business Lending services that MaineStream Finance has to offer.

Roberta Teeto

Roberta Teeto, Loan Officer at MaineStream Finance, processes loan applications from start to finish, including home purchase loans, home repair loans, mortgage refinancing and educating clients about their different financing options.

Roberta helps homeowners and new buyers secure a loan that suits their budget and goals. Before becoming a Loan Officer at MaineStream Finance, she provided administrative oversight of the FDA/IDA matched savings program since September of 2009. Roberta has also worked with reputable real estate agencies, including Prudential and John R. Wood. She has a Bachelor’s degree of Science & Education from the College of Charleston, S.C. NMLS# 1780580.