Island Institute receives federal grant for community work

Wed, 10/12/2016 - 8:30pm

    The Island Institute, in Rockland, has been selected to receive a USDA Rural Development Rural Community Development Initiative Grant in the amount of $143,350 to build capacity and provide technical assistance to the rural Maine island communities of Vinalhaven, Frenchboro, and Eastport.

     The grant will provide Vinalhaven, Frenchboro, and Eastport with  support through Fellows who will work alongside the communities to develop opportunities in education, grow the creative economy, and improve critical emergency management services for island residents.

     Specifically, the grant will assist the Island Institute in providing 7-10 Fellows per year for two years in the island communities to assist each with its own needs.

    On Vinalhaven, Fellows will work with the Vinalhaven school and an island-based nonprofit, “Partners in Island Education,” to build a program supporting lifelong learning and alternative education programs to increase the capacity of the nonprofit and strengthen the economy through Kindergarten through Adult Education.

    On Frenchboro, Fellows will help collect data to inform a comprehensive planning process and for the improvement of emergency management services.

    In Eastport, Fellows will create a Makerspace (a collaborative work space) to support growing and diversifying the creative economy for the Eastport Arts Center.

    The  goal of the Island Institute's Fellows program is to help island and remote  coastal communities build capacity. Working in seven to ten communities per year, Island Fellows serve for one- or two-year placements, and work on a wide range of community-defined projects. Fellows address each recipient's unique circumstances and specific areas of vulnerability and need through a mix of training, data collection and analysis, volunteer recruitment and management, organizational board development, systems implementation, networking, and resource identification.

      USDA Rural Development’s Rural Community Development Grant (RCDI), provides funding to help non-profit housing and community development organizations support housing, community facilities, and community and economic development projects in rural areas.

     USDA Rural Development has Area Offices located in Presque Isle, Bangor, Lewiston, and Scarborough, as well as a State Office, located in Bangor. There are  54 employees working to deliver the agency’s Housing, Business, and Community Programs, which are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, and farmers, and improve the quality of life in rural Maine. Further information on rural programs is available at a local USDA Rural Development office or by visiting USDA Rural Development's web site at http://www.rd.usda.gov/me.