CAMDEN — Finding Our Voices, the grassroots nonprofit supporting Maine women survivors of domestic abuse and their children, has distributed $540,000 in direct financial assistance to more than 1,000 low-income survivors across all 16 Maine counties through its Get Out Stay Out Fund.

Launched in 2021, shortly after the group became a nonprofit, the fund provides low-barrier microgrants for essential needs that can make the difference between remaining in danger, constraint, and misery, and building a safe, independent life. Assistance includes security deposits, car repairs, gas and grocery cards, overdue utility bills, legal expenses, and other critical costs. 

According to Finding Our Voices CEO and founder Patrisha McLean, in a news release, financial abuse with the resulting lack of available funds is the number one factor trapping women in domestic abuse.

The program began with a $50,000 grant from Doris Buffett’s Sunshine Lady Foundation. Finding Our Voices is entirely donor funded and does not accept government funding, a model that allows the organization to respond quickly and flexibly to survivors’ urgent needs, according to McLean.

“Finding Our Voices kept my electricity on and gas in my car," one funding recipient said, "after I had been physically, emotionally, and financially abused by my ex-boyfriend and isolated 2000 miles away from my family and friends. They helped me when nobody else could, or would.”

Demand for Emergency Assistance Is Growing

Finding Our Voices is experiencing a surge in requests for help that they attribute to rising costs of housing, fuel, and groceries and cutbacks to the social safety net. McLean said the survivor-led nonprofit, working out of a home office in Camden and with a staff of three plus a brigade of volunteers spanning the state, now receives an average of eight reach-outs a day from referral partners and survivors, increasingly involving women who are homeless or living in cars with their children.

“We are immensely grateful to our donors for allowing us to provide lifelines to the most vulnerable women and children in our communities,” McLean said.

The assistance is often immediate and practical: a security deposit that makes a hard-to-find apartment accessible; a gas card that allows a survivor to flee the state when a dangerous former partner is released early from prison; a car repair that enables a woman to keep her job; or storage fees that preserve treasured belongings, including children’s artwork and, in one case, a mother’s ashes.

McLean described a growing gap between survivors’ urgent needs and the help available through other systems. One woman reported spending more than eight hours on hold with one social service agency. Another single mother was told she needed to take a day off from her new job to apply for assistance in person. In early October, a woman was told the next available appointment to apply for heating assistance was in January.

Helping Survivors Stay Out and Rebuild Their Lives

The “Stay Out” component of the fund recognizes that leaving an abusive relationship is only the beginning of a survivor’s journey.  Rebuilding financial stability, navigating legal proceedings, addressing trauma, and supporting children can create significant challenges long after a woman has gotten herself and her children physically safe.

“I left my abuser 17 months ago,” one recipient wrote to Finding Our Voices. “But no one ever tells you how hard the next part is. I felt like I was drowning—in legal fees, in the ongoing divorce being weaponized against me, mounting therapy fees for PTSD, and still trying to earn an income without a car to drive.”

The survivor described the support she received from Finding Our Voices as more than financial: “I felt like I was hanging off a cliff by my fingernails. The help I received from you guys was not only a lifeline, but a tsunami of relief that gave me the strength to keep going.”

The fund’s impact is reflected in its recent growth. According to McLean, assistance has doubled since 2024. In the first 10 months of 2026 alone, Finding Our Voices distributed $120,000 to 245 survivors and their 95 children. That amount represents more than one-third of the organization’s annual budget.

The group has also established separate Children’s and Pet Funds, recognizing the impact of domestic abuse on children and the importance of pets in the healing journey.  Recent Children’s Fund payments have included $350 for art camp, an $80 weighted stuffed animal, and $750 for driving lessons for a teenager who had just finished testifying in a domestic violence trial involving her father.

Pet Fund assistance has included a muzzle and flea treatment needed for a dog to accompany its owner  into emergency shelter, as well as $750 for a life-saving operation for a beloved furbaby named Daisy.

A Network of Community Support

Finding Our Voices works with an expanding network of referral partners throughout Maine, including health care and social service agency caseworkers, therapists, and state workers and officials who connect survivors with assistance through Finding Our Voices that they cannot find anywhere else. 

After Finding Our Voices paid a client’s $1,000 overdue electric bill, Nancy Cormier, a caseworker with the mental health clinic Spurwink, praised the nonprofit.

“I had a response by email and phone within an hour of submitting the contact form,” Cormier said. “This is a life-changing organization. The amount of kindness shown has blown me away.”

Finding Our Voices provided another survivor with a $500 grocery card after her food assistance benefits were suspended, and a $500 gas card to allow her to escape terrifying stalking of her ex by staying with family in Texas.   

“Finding our Voices was a light in the middle of a lot of darkness for my client,” her caseworker said. “They were genuinely interested in my client’s needs, and were quick to respond and provide tangible and practical help.”

“They are ACTUALLY helping victims of domestic violence. They are active and proactive. They are using their funds well and wisely and helping survivors break through.”

Funding comes from a mix of grants, individual donations, and creative community fundraising campaigns. Grants this year include $20,000 from United Midcoast Charities for its programs in Knox and Waldo counties, and  $20,000 from the John T. Gorman Foundation exclusively for security deposits.

Finding Our Voices’ largest fundraising initiative is its annual Into the Light! Yellow Festival, with 100 percent of proceeds going to the Get Out Stay Out Fund. During July,  businesses promote, and donate proceeds from, yellow-themed menu or retail items, with participation this year from 126 businesses from Damariscotta to Stonington. Proceeds are significantly boosted with corporate sponsorships including lead sponsors First National Bank and Camden National Bank. 

Additional fundraising efforts include register round-ups this year at Aubuchon Hardware locations in Buxton and Belfast, both locations of Morning Glory Natural Foods in Brunswick, and Lois’ Natural Marketplace in Scarborough. Christine Buckley has raised a total of $7,000 for the Get Out Stay Out Fund through art sales at Christine’s Framing Gallery in Rockport and “yellow dot” sales at her second business, Camden Curated.

Beyond Financial Assistance

Finding Our Voices also supports survivors through Finding Our Smiles, which connects women with donated dental care from 40 volunteer dental providers across Maine; Healing Together workshops and retreats; and a weekly online support group.

The nonprofit’s public education efforts include its Teen Healthy Relationship program, with classroom visits in 2026 to 18 schools including, this fall, high schools in Camden, Belfast, and Rockland.

For the domestic abuse survivors running Finding Our Voices including McLean, the group's COO Mary Kamradt, and dozens of devoted volunteers, these services and the financial assistance are part of a broader effort to empower their sisters to cross over to the bright side of safety and freedom, as they managed to do.

A recent donation captured that journey in the donor’s own words:

“I’m on the other side of a rough 15 years. I’ll always be grateful for your work. It wasn’t until I read one of your posters in Belfast that it truly hit me how mentally abusive my ex was. My life now is peaceful, purposeful & full of good friends. Thank you for helping others get through the dark and into the light.”

As requests for assistance continue to rise, Finding Our Voices invites donations from the public, which can be designated for the Get Out Stay Out Fund, its Children's and Pet offshoots, or any other of its programs. 

About Finding Our Voices

Finding Our Voices is the Camden-based, statewide, grassroots nonprofit and sisterhood supporting women survivors of domestic abuse and their children. Its programs include the Get Out Stay Out Fund, Children’s Fund, Pet Fund, Finding Our Smiles donated dental care initiative, Healing Together workshops and retreats, a weekly online support group, and public education campaigns promoting awareness of domestic abuse and teen dating abuse.

The group is hosting a free Financial Health workshop in Camden on Tuesday, November 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

For more information about Finding Our Voices, its programs, or ways to support its work, visit the organization’s official website https://findingourvoices.net or contact McLean directly at hello@findingourvoices.net