Dear Friend, While the season has brought us welcomed warmer weather and longer days, that hasn’t slowed the pace of good work being done by our grantees and partners throughout Maine. Similarly, it’s been a busy and exciting couple of months here at the John T. Gorman Foundation. In May, we joined many others in … Read more
Dear Friend, While spring always brings renewed hopefulness, this year certainly finds it in great measure – and not just because of the warm weather (though that hasn’t hurt either). Vaccinations have finally allowed us to safely reconnect with loved ones and resume pastimes we have dearly missed. And each Mainer who gets vaccinated brings us … Read more
Dear Friend, One year ago, COVID-19 was just starting to spread in other countries, triggering a dawning realization that a crisis was headed our way. Little did we know how quickly that crisis would arrive, the unthinkable toll it would take, and the many, many ways it would alter our everyday lives. Maybe, just maybe, we … Read more
Dear Friend, Six months into a pandemic that has affected so many facets of our lives, it’s clear that many Mainers are experiencing challenges that may have seemed unimaginable this time last year. For folks and communities that were struggling even before COVID, these challenges can seem — and too often are — overwhelming. If … Read more
Dear Friend, To say the last few months have seen one crisis after another would fall short – for it implies that one crisis subsides before another emerges. Rather, it seems that every day there is ever more to demand our collective attention and action. Of course, there is COVID-19, the impacts of which continue to … Read more
Dear Friend, No matter the task, from the mundane to the complicated, the last two months of living through the COVID pandemic has required all of us to adapt to new ways of living, working and interacting. Thus is the reality of trying to prevent a disease that exploits a fundamental part of the human condition: … Read more
Dear Friend, Monday, February 10, marked the 10th anniversary of our founder Tom Gorman’s death. For the John T. Gorman Foundation’s Board and staff, it is an apt time to both remember and celebrate Tom’s remarkable generosity and his unflinching compassion for disadvantaged Mainers. As a grandson of L.L. Bean and a lifelong resident of Yarmouth, … Read more
Dear Friend, While adjectives like emotional and inspiring are not commonly associated with city council meetings, the words fit recent proceedings in Lewiston to a T. Last month, the Lewiston City Council took a major step toward a better future for thousands of children and families by unanimously approving a transformation plan for the Tree … Read more
Dear Friend, One of the core strategies of the John T. Gorman Foundation is to help advance Two-Generation work across Maine. Two-Generation strategies, which simultaneously provide opportunities and supports for parents and children in the same family, recognize that the success of children is inextricably tied to the success of their parents, and that if … Read more
[Read the full newsletter here] I don’t remember the last time I had listened to the radio so intently. Through the speakers in my car last week came the voice of Mikayla, a young woman living in the youth shelter at New Beginnings in Lewiston. Since her father passed away, she has dealt with challenges … Read more
