John T. Gorman Foundation :: Letter from Tony Cipollone

On August 1st, I had the great pleasure of beginning what I hope will be a long tenure here at the John T. Gorman Foundation. Since then, I’ve been humbled by the outpouring of good wishes and generosity extended by the many folks I’ve had the good fortune to meet across Maine. To those who’ve reached out to welcome me, many thanks!

Since my arrival, much has taken place. We’ve moved the Foundation’s offices from Lewiston to Portland, where we’ve now officially set up shop at our new address in One Canal Plaza. We’ve been able to attract some terrific folks to accept positions at the Foundation, bringing on Nicole Witherbee as a Senior Associate; Michael Bevilacqua as our Director of Finance and Administration; Lauralee Raymond as our Program Assistant; and Brenda Cook as our Executive Assistant. Importantly, with the endorsement and approval of our Board, we’ve also begun to chart out a course of work that we will take up in 2012.

Beginning in January, the Foundation will be working on several fronts:

We’ll be soliciting proposals for a new funding initiative called the “Critical Support Grants Program,” aimed at helping Maine non-profits better meet the immediate needs of low-income residents across the state (you’ll find a description of this effort and the application process on this web site);
We’ll be embarking on a strategic planning process that we hope will enable us to set a new direction for the Foundation over the next 3-5 years; and
We’ll begin to consider new types of grant making activities that we hope will round out our direct services grant making in the years to come.

As we take on this work, I want to assure everyone that our focus will continue to be improving the lives of Maine’s underserved low-income populations, including those battling the hardships of cancer and mental health issues. I believe that we have the potential, in concert with many of you, to make a real and measureable difference for Mainers across the state and, in doing so, to honor the wishes and the legacy of Tom Gorman, whose compassion and caring embodied the best of what I’ve already come to appreciate as a core characteristic of my newly adopted home.