NEWS & PRESS

RELEASE: John T. Gorman Foundation awards $1.5 million in grants to meet critical needs for Maine people

Grants will help 83 nonprofits in all 16 counties provide food, housing, healthcare, and other essential services

PORTLAND, Maine (June 7, 2023) – The John T. Gorman Foundation has awarded 83 grants totaling $1.5 million to provide food, shelter, health care, and other essential services to Mainers in need through its 2023 Direct Service Grant Program.

“Basic access to food, housing, and other essentials continues to be a pressing concern for too many Maine people,” said Lauralee Raymond, John T. Gorman Foundation Manager, Special Initiatives. “Through this year’s Direct Service Grant Program, the John T. Gorman Foundation is privileged to be able to strengthen the efforts of organizations across the state to address these critical needs in their communities.”

This year, the Foundation awarded more than half of its Direct Service Grants to organizations focused on food insecurity and housing. Additional grants went to fund initiatives that provide health care, legal aid, language assistance, transportation, financial support, and other services.

Full descriptions of the grants, including counties served, are available below.

Organization Name Grant Amount Grant Description  Location Counties Served
Amistad $20,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Kennebec, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Lincoln
Area Interfaith Outreach $20,000 To provide people in Knox County with food and energy assistance through four key basic needs programs: Food Assistance, Energy Assistance, Diaper Assistance, and Weekend Meals. Rockland Knox
Aroostook County Action Program $25,000 To provide security deposits to unhoused or housing insecure individuals and families in Aroostook County. Presque Isle Aroostook
Augusta Food Bank $15,000 To provide general operating support. Augusta Kennebec, Androscoggin, Sagadahoc, Waldo
Bangor Area Homeless Shelter $20,000 To provide general operating support. Bangor Piscataquis, Penobscot
Bath Housing Development Corporation $15,000 To provide general operating support. Bath Sagadahoc
Belfast Soup Kitchen $15,000 To provide general operating support. Belfast Waldo
Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine $25,000 To assist newly arrived youth in the Portland Clubhouse with meeting basic needs such as transportation, food, and language support. Portland Cumberland, Androscoggin, York
Catholic Charities Maine $20,000 To support the Maine SEARCH (Seek Elderly Alone, Renew Courage & Hope) Program, which pairs vulnerable older Mainers with a caring volunteer who provides individualized support. Portland Statewide
Center for a Green Future DBA Growing to Give $10,000 To provide general operating support. Brunswick Cumberland, Androscoggin, Sagadahoc
Central Maine Area Agency on Aging $25,000 To support services meeting the immediate basic needs of older adults experiencing poverty and/or who are at risk of eviction, homelessness, or unwanted institutionalization. Augusta Statewide
CHiP, Inc. $10,000 To provide general operating support. Newcastle Lincoln
Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust / Twin Villages Foodbank Farm $20,000 To provide general operating support to Twin Villages Foodbank Farm. Damariscotta Lincoln
Common Good Soup Kitchen Community $12,500 To support food-insecure households in Southwest Harbor via their food pantry and weekly food delivery box programs. Southwest Harbor Hancock
Community Care $15,000 To support Community Care’s Shaw House Street Outreach Program, which conducts outreach to locate youth experiencing homelessness and links them to vital basic need items including access to safe shelter, food, clothing, and essential support services. Bangor Hancock, Piscataquis, Penobscot
Community Compass $15,000 To provide general operating support. Blue Hill Hancock
Eastern Area Agency on Aging $25,000 To provide nutritious meals via community cafes and home delivery for low-income older adults, disabled adults, and caregivers in the counties of Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Washington counties. Brewer Hancock, Washington, Piscataquis, Penobscot
Elder Abuse Institute Of Maine $15,000 To provide general operating support. Brunswick Statewide
Ellsworth Free Medical Clinic $15,000 To provide general operating support. Ellsworth Statewide
Emmanuel Lutheran Episcopal Church – Bridging the Gap $15,000 To provide general operating support for the Bridging the Gap program. Augusta Kennebec
Family Planning Association of Maine $15,000 To provide personal care kits to women affected by substance use disorders and other challenging life situations. Augusta Statewide
First Congregational Church of Waterville, Maine / Waterville Area Essentials Closet $15,000 To support the operations of the Waterville Area Essentials Closet. Waterville Kennebec, Somerset
Footprints Food Pantry $20,000 To provide general operating support. Kittery York
Foundation for Portland Public Schools $15,000 To support the Annetta Weatherhead Fund, which provides flexible resources to meet the basic needs of Reiche School students and their families. Portland Cumberland
Frannie Peabody Center $20,000 To support the FRAN Fund Program, which provides clients with financial assistance to support basic needs not otherwise covered by other funding sources. Portland Statewide
Friends in Action $12,000 To provide general operating support. Ellsworth Hancock, Penobscot
Greater Portland Family Promise $15,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Cumberland
Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center $20,000 To support the iEnglish Project, which offers free instruction by qualified ESOL instructors at multiple locations and online to new immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Portland Cumberland
H.O.M.E. Inc. $15,000 To provide general operating support. Orland Hancock, Washington
Hand in Hand, Mano en Mano $25,000 To provide general operating support. Milbridge Statewide, Hancock, Washington
Harrison Food Bank $10,000 To provide general operating support. Harrison Cumberland, Androscoggin, Oxford
Healthy Acadia $15,000 To support the Downeast Gleaning Initiative, which redistributes surplus food to food pantries, community meal sites, school programs, and other food security organizations across Hancock and Washington counties. Ellsworth Hancock, Washington
Healthy Island Project $25,000 To provide food security programs to older adults, children and families through multiple school-pantry sites, a backpack program, community pantries, FarmDrop and the Farmers Market. Stonington Hancock
Her Safety Net $15,000 To provide general operating support. Lewiston Androscoggin
Intercultural Community Center $20,000 To support the Family CARES Program, which provides resource navigation, wraparound services, and opportunities for social connection for New Mainers. Westbrook Cumberland
Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine $15,000 To support the purchase of diapers for the KJFS Diaper Pantry. Portland Cumberland, Sagadahoc, York
Knox County Homeless Coalition $15,000 To provide general operating support. Rockland Knox, Lincoln, Waldo
Lake Region Senior Service $12,000 To provide general operating support. Bridgton Cumberland, Androscoggin, Oxford, York
Legal Services for the Elderly $20,000 To provide general operating support. Augusta Statewide
Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry $20,000 To provide general operating support. Ellsworth Hancock
Locker Project $15,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Cumberland
Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center $25,000 To provide essential health care to low-income Mainers to address immediate needs related to physical and mental health. Bangor Hancock, Washington, Aroostook, Penobscot
Maine Association For New Americans $25,000 To support MANA’s trauma-informed, multilingual and multicultural transportation program, which transports immigrants and other low-income people to non-emergency medical, mental health, food, and social service appointments. Portland Cumberland, Androscoggin, York
Maine Coast Fishermens Association $25,000 To support the Fishermen Feeding Mainers program, which buys fish from local fishermen, pays local processors to cut it, and donates it to Maine’s food insecure. Brunswick Statewide
Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition $25,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Statewide
Maine Medical Center $25,000 To purchase food to be distributed through the Maine Medical Center Food Pantry, which primarily serves asylum seekers and their families. Portland Statewide
Maine Needs $15,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Statewide
MaineHealth – Healthy Community Coalition $25,000 To provide food and personal care products to low-income residents of Franklin County identified through local medical practices and HCC’s Mobile Health Unit and Community Health Worker program. Farmington Franklin
Mainely Teeth dba Mainely Smiles $25,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Statewide
MCH, Inc. $15,000 To support the Meals on Wheels program, which provides nutritious meals and regular personal communication to food-insecure, low-income older adults and adults with disabilities in Knox County. Rockland Knox
Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program $20,000 To provide general operating support. Brunswick Statewide
Mid-Coast Health Net DBA The Knox Clinic $20,000  To support an increase in dental program operations from three to four days per week to better meet the demand for services from low-income families in Knox County. Rockland Knox
Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter $25,000 To support the Housing Stabilization and Eviction Prevention Program, which provides support services and financial assistance to housing insecure families so that they may remain stably housed. Waterville Kennebec, Somerset
Milestone Recovery $25,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Cumberland, York
Neighbors Driving Neighbors $10,000 To provide general operating support. Mount Vernon Kennebec
Neighbors Helping Neighbors Downeast $6,000 To provide general operating support. East Machias Washington
New Beginnings $15,000 To provide general operating support. Lewiston Kennebec, Androscoggin, Statewide, Franklin
New England Arab American Organization $25,000 To provide New Mainer families with case management and financial support to meet basic needs, to include rent and mortgage assistance and assistance toward food, utilities and/or transportation. Portland Kennebec, Cumberland, York
OHI $15,000 To support the efforts of the Brewer Area Food Pantry to serve local food-insecure residents and families. Bangor Penobscot
Penobscot Community Health Care $25,000 To support Helping Hands for Health Mini-Grants, an extension of the Theresa Bray Knowles Gaps in Care Fund, which covers critical items and services that can not funded through other sources for patients of 19 health care organizations. Bangor Statewide
Preble Street $25,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Statewide
Quality Housing Coalition $25,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Statewide
Rangeley Health and Wellness $20,000 To support the direct provision of food to individuals facing food insecurity in the Rangeley region. Rangeley Franklin, Oxford
Rockland District Nursing Association $20,000 To provide general operating support. Rockland Knox
Rural Community Action Ministry $15,000 To provide general operating support. Leeds Kennebec, Androscoggin, Oxford
Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Parish $15,000 To provide support for SHSD’s food pantry program. Portland Cumberland
SeniorsPlus $25,000 To assist older adults in navigating social, health and wellness services and accessing benefits that will help them meet their basic needs – to include help with rent, heat and food. Lewiston Androscoggin, Franklin, Oxford
Shalom House $15,000 To provide support for an emergency fund that low-income clients may access to meet their basic housing, health, transportation and other critical needs when other payment sources have been exhausted. Portland Cumberland, York
SKILLS Inc $25,000 To support housing and other basic needs expenses for low-income adults with disabilities in Somerset, Northern Kennebec, and Southern Penobscot counties. Saint Albans Kennebec, Penobscot, Somerset
Somali Bantu Community Association of Lewiston, Maine $25,000 To provide general operating support. Lewiston Cumberland, Androscoggin
Southern Maine Agency on Aging $25,000 To provide case management services for older adults and adults with disabilities in York and Cumberland counties, with the goal of increasing their access to knowledge, information, and resources and helping them to live independently for longer. Biddeford Cumberland, York
St Marys Regional Medical Center (St. Mary’s Nutrition Center) $25,000 To provide general operating support to St. Mary’s Nutrition Center. Lewiston Androscoggin
St. Martin de Porres Residence $15,000 To provide general operating support. Lewiston Androscoggin, Statewide
St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen $15,000 To provide general operating support. Portland Cumberland
State Street Congregational Church $11,500 To support State Street Church’s Clothes Closet, which provides free clothing to Mainers in need. Portland Cumberland
Table of Plenty $11,000 To provide general operating support. Berwick York
Tedford Housing $20,000 To provide general operating support. Brunswick Cumberland, Androscoggin, Sagadahoc, Lincoln
The Root Cellar $15,000 To provide support for food distribution through its emergency food pantry and neighbor food shares program, as well as to support English language learning classes. Lewiston Cumberland, Androscoggin
Tripp Middle School $5,000 To support the school’s food pantry, which supplies food to students and families experiencing food insecurity on weekends, school vacations, and holidays. Turner Androscoggin
Veggies to Table $10,000 To provide general operating support. Newcastle Lincoln
Waterville Area Soup Kitchen $15,000 To provide general operating support. Waterville Kennebec, Somerset
Winslow Community Cupboard / Winslow Congregational Church, UCC $15,000 To support the Winslow Congregational Church’s Community Cupboard, which provides food to food-insecure people and families in 34 towns throughout Kennebec and Somerset counties. Winslow Kennebec, Somerset
YMCA Sanford-Springvale $10,000 To support the Y Community Little Pantry, which provides easily consumable foods in a low-barrier setting in downtown Sanford to unhoused and food insecure residents who may not be able to travel to further-away food pantries. Sanford York

 

Sign up for our newsletter

Get updates on the John T. Gorman Foundation’s work, partnerships, and grant opportunities in your inbox.