Hancock
Hancock County at a Glance:
- The estimated poverty rate in Hancock County is 21.1%.*
- Nearly 16.2% of children under 18 live in poverty.**
- 21.3% of children in Hancock County receive SNAP benefits, 43.1% of school-aged children are eligible for subsidized school meals.**
- 25% of children are living with food insecurity.**
- The infant mortality rate in Hancock County is 6.4 per 1,000.**
- 5.8 per every 1,000 children in Hancock County are in DHHS custody.**
- 46.2% of children in Hancock County participate in MaineCare.**
- 42.5% of people in Hancock County are not currently in the workforce.*
- 17.6% of the population is under the age of 18.*
- 33.2% of the population achieved a high school degree; 17.9% have a bachelor’s degree or higher.*
- The high school graduation rate for Hancock County is 84.4%.**
*Source: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2012-2016
**Source: Maine Kids Count
Grants Awarded in this Region
| Date | Organization | Award | Description | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Castine Community Partners Inc. | $15,000 | To support the Castine Area Relief Fund, which provides weekly grocery delivery to those in need to address food insecurity in the broader Castine area. | Castine, ME |
| 2022 | Community Compass - FS Downeast Community Partners | $15,000 | To provide general operating support for Community Compass. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2022 | Eastern Area Agency on Aging | $20,000 | To support a nutritious meals program - including home delivery and congregate dining options - for low-income, older adults in Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Washington counties. | Brewer, ME |
| 2022 | Friends in Action | $12,000 | To provide general operating support. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2022 | Hand in Hand, Mano en Mano | $20,000 | To provide general operating support. | Milbridge, ME |
| 2022 | Healthy Acadia | $20,000 | To support the Downeast Gleaning Initiative, which harvests surplus food and redistributes it to food pantries and other food security organizations across Hancock and Washington counties. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2022 | Healthy Peninsula | $12,000 | To support the coordination of Simmering Pot Meal Delivery's free, weekly meals - to include meal recipient sign-up, volunteer kitchens, food donations, and volunteer drivers - to food insecure, isolated community members on the Blue Hill Peninsula. | Blue Hill, ME |
| 2022 | Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry | $15,000 | To provide general operating support. . | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2021 | Castine Community Partners | $10,000 | To support the Castine Area Relief Fund, which provides weekly food distribution, rental assistance, and utility payment support to low-income people on the Blue Hill peninsula. | Castine, ME |
| 2021 | Christine B. Foundation | $15,000 | To provide equitable nutrition assistance to food insecure patients with cancer, recent survivors, and their families, in eastern Maine. | Bangor, ME |
| 2021 | Downeast Community Partners, Community Compass | $15,000 | To provide general operating support for Community Compass. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2021 | Ellsworth Free Medical Clinic | $15,000 | To provide general operating support. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2021 | H.O.M.E. Inc. | $15,000 | To provide general operating support. | Orland, ME |
| 2021 | Healthy Acadia | $15,000 | To support the Downeast Gleaning Initiative, which works with farms, farmers' markets, and gardeners to harvest surplus food and redistribute it to food security organizations across Hancock and Washington counties. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2021 | Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center | $15,000 | To provide essential physical and mental health care services to low-income people in Northern and Eastern Maine. | Bangor, ME |
| 2020 | H.O.M.E. Inc. | $10,000 | To provide general operating support. | ORLAND, ME |
| 2020 | Healthy Acadia | $25,000 | To support the Downeast Gleaning Initiative, which harvests surplus food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributes it to food pantries and other food security organizations across Hancock and Washington counties. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2020 | Maine Seacoast Mission | $25,000 | To provide families impacted by COVID-19 in Washington and eastern Hancock counties with expanded food offerings and connections to community basic needs resources. | Bar Harbor, ME |
| 2019 | H.O.M.E. Inc. | $15,000 | To provide general operating support. | Orland, ME |
| 2019 | Hand in Hand, Mano en Mano | $15,000 | To provide immigrants and migrant workers with high-quality supports and referrals to meet their basic needs. | Milbridge, ME |
| 2019 | Healthy Acadia | $20,000 | To support the Downeast Gleaning Initiative, which harvests surplus food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributes it to food pantries and other food security organizations across Hancock and Washington counties. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2019 | Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center | $15,000 | To provide mental health counseling to low income Mainers residing in northern and eastern Maine. | BANGOR, ME |
| 2019 | Next Step Domestic Violence Project | $20,000 | To remove barriers to housing stability experienced by victims of abuse and their children through rent subsidies, one-time investments in immediate needs, and specialized housing advocacy. | ELLSWORTH, ME |
| 2018 | First Congregational Church of Blue Hill | $10,000 | To provide support for the Dolly Fisher Fund, an emergency food and fuel assistance program for families on the Blue Hill peninsula in Hancock County. | Blue Hill, ME |
| 2018 | Goodwill Industries of Northern New England | $20,000 | To provide support for the Job Connection Bangor program, providing wrap-around workforce development services to low-income adults with multiple barriers to successful employment such as food scarcity, unstable housing, and transportation issues. | Portland, ME |
| 2018 | H.O.M.E. Inc. | $15,000 | To provide support for general operations to provide food, shelter and employment opportunities for men, women and children in Hancock County. | Orland, ME |
| 2018 | Healthy Acadia | $25,000 | To expand the amount of local, healthy food available to low-income households in Hancock and Washington counties. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2018 | Maine Seacoast Mission | $20,950 | To support the Mission’s ongoing work with the Data Innovation Project to incorporate better data collection and analysis into its programs and activities for more informed decision making. | Bar Harbor, ME |
| 2018 | Sunrise Opportunities | $100,000 | To support their role as an organizational partner for Family Futures Downeast, a two-generational program that combines post-secondary and career programming for Washington County parents with early childhood education for their children. | Machias, ME |
| 2017 | Ellsworth Free Medical Clinic | $7,000 | For general operating support. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2017 | H.O.M.E. | $15,000 | For general operating support. | Orland, ME |
| 2017 | Hand in Hand Mano en Mano | $20,000 | To provide immigrants and migrant workers with high-quality supports and referrals to meet their basic needs. | Milbridge, ME |
| 2017 | Hospice Volunteers of Hancock County | $10,000 | For general operating support. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2016 | Child and Family Opportunities | $15,000 | For the Early Education Access Fund helping parents who need childcare, and who are ineligible for other assistance or are unable to pay full fees due to changes in employment, changes in family health and well-being, or unexpected situations. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2016 | Hand in Hand Mano en Mano | $15,000 | To provide support for a drop-in resource center, home-based services, case management, referrals and transportation services for immigrants and farmworkers in Milbridge and surrounding towns | Milbridge, ME |
| 2016 | Island Institute | $300,000 | A three year grant to provide business support services to small businesses in rural coastal areas and islands in Maine. | Rockland, ME |
| 2016 | Maine Seacoast Mission | $15,000 | To support the Weald Bethel Food Pantry, which serves low-income residents within a 700 mile radius of Washington County. | Bar Harbor, ME |
| 2015 | Eastern Area Agency on Aging | $20,000 | To support the Pantry Partners program, which serves low-income clients through emergency and supplemental food boxes and transportation of food from food pantries to seniors' homes. | Bangor, ME |
| 2015 | Food AND Medicine, Jobs with Justice Education Fund | $15,000 | To provide funding to deliver healthy, locally grown food to SNAP users, including families in crisis, laid-off workers, seniors, and people with disabilities who need homecare. | Brewer, ME |
| 2015 | Hospice Volunteers of Hancock County | $15,000 | To support patient care, caregiver support, and bereavement services for residents of Hancock County. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2015 | Maine Coast Memorial Hospital | $25,000 | To provide increased access to mental health services for uninsured and underinsured residents in western Washington and Hancock counties. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2015 | Washington Hancock Community Agency | $61,000 | To support the At Home Downeast program. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2014 | Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center | $15,000 | To provide operating support toward staffing so they may continue providing direct services to people affected by cancer in Hancock and Washington Counties. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2014 | Child and Family Opportunities | $15,000 | To provide operating support for high quality early care and education programs in nine centers in Washington and Hancock counties. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2014 | Community Health and Counseling Services | $17,150 | To provide funding for support groups for resource families raising children whose parent(s) cannot. | Bangor, ME |
| 2014 | Deer Isle Sunset Congregational Church | $2,500 | To provide support for the Island Heating Assistance Program providing emergency fuel assistance for low-income Deer Isle residents. | Deer Isle, ME |
| 2014 | Friends in Action | $15,000 | To provide operating support for transportation and food security programs. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2014 | Hospice Volunteers of Hancock County | $15,000 | To provide operating support for patient care, caregiver support and bereavement services for residents of Hancock County. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2014 | Maine Seacoast Mission | $20,000 | To provide support for individuals and families who struggle to have adequate food, shelter and clothing. | Bar Harbor, ME |
| 2013 | Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center | $15,000 | To provide operating support to sustain the Program and Volunteer Coordinator position. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2013 | Cancer Support Center of Maine | $5,000 | To provide gas cards for cancer patients traveling to and from medical appointments. | Bucksport, ME |
| 2013 | Child and Family Opportunities | $87,650 | To support ongoing professional development for early childhood providers and elementary teachers through a coaching and mentoring model that is informed by a “best practice” assessment tool. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2013 | Community Health and Counseling Services | $24,250 | To provide remote patient monitoring for individuals age 60+ living with chronic diseases such as diabetes or congestive heart failure. | Bangor, ME |
| 2013 | Eastern Area Agency on Aging | $100,000 | To support the expansion of the EZ Fix program, a year round home repair and independent living program for low-income Maine senior citizens and adults with disabilities. | Bangor, ME |
| 2013 | Friends in Action | $10,000 | To provide free transportation and nutritious food to seniors through volunteer programs. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2013 | Island Connections | $10,000 | To provide free transportation and other services to elderly and disabled residents to help them live independently. | Bar Harbor, ME |
| 2013 | Maine Seacoast Mission | $25,000 | To support elders who wish to age in place in their homes and communities to do so successfully. | Bar Harbor, ME |
| 2013 | Penobscot Community Health Care | $25,000 | To increase provision of home-based primary care to seniors with chronic conditions, allowing them to age in place and maintain their health. | Bangor, ME |
| 2013 | Washington Hancock Community Agency | $25,000 | To support seniors aging in place through Friendship Cottage Adult Day Service and the At Home Downeast Program. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2012 | Child and Family Opportunities | $48,516 | To increase access to early care and education services in Washington County. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2012 | Downeast Health Services | $25,000 | To support dental services for uninsured individuals and maintain unlimited access for individuals insured by Medicaid through the Maine Coast Community Dental clinic. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2012 | Food for Maine's Future | $12,000 | To support the Food For Maine's Future program that provides fresh food to migrant farmworkers. | Sedgwick, ME |
| 2012 | H.O.M.E. Inc. | $10,000 | To support food, shelter, and employment opportunities for men, women, and children in Hancock County. | Orland, ME |
| 2012 | Healthy Acadia | $20,000 | To provide Community Supported Agriculture shares to low-income households in Hancock County during the 2013 growing season. | Ellsworth, ME |
| 2012 | Island Nursing Home | $10,000 | To support the transportation needs of elderly residents. | Deer Isle, ME |
| 2012 | Maine Seacoast Mission | $50,000 | To support programs meeting the needs of at-risk populations in Hancock County. | Bar Harbor, ME |
| 2012 | Washington Hancock Community Agency | $20,000 | To provide operating support for programs serving low-income clients. | Ellsworth, ME |