The Maine Community Foundation has awarded $219,800 in community-building grants to 24 nonprofits across Maine through its Statewide Fund.

2020 Statewide Community Building Grant Recipients:

 American Civil Liberties Union of Maine Foundation, to create volunteer-driven know-your-rights trainings (including engaging Customs and Border Patrol officials) for directly impacted immigrant communities and allies providing services: $10,000

 Boys & Girls Club of Augusta, for teen driving program, designed to enhance driver’s education and help teenagers become better, safer drivers: $10,000

 Capital Area New Mainers Project, to increase visibility and expand programming by creating a welcoming community hub at the Augusta Multicultural Center: $10,000

 Central Maine Area Agency on Aging, to support people with IDD (Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities) and memory disorders to grow food in raised garden beds: $5,550

 Children’s Center Early Intervention and Family Support, to implement an electronic health record that can improve program quality by accurately and efficiently collecting data that will inform treatment and produce better outcomes: $10,000

 Community Concepts, Inc., to build capacity to meet the identified transportation needs of the most underserved living in Western and Central Maine: $10,000

 Community Dental, to expand access to oral healthcare through technology upgrades: $10,000

 Girls on the Run – Maine, to expand the Girls on the Run program to all Maine counties by spring 2021 through serving sites in Lincoln, Hancock, Somerset, and Franklin counties: $5,000

 Gulf of Maine Research Institute, to pilot decision-support resources for coastal communities to develop the skills, knowledge, and processes to implement actionable plans to respond to sea-level rise: $10,000

 Knox County Homeless Coalition, to improve organizational efficiency by streamlining systems and coordinating community resources to support clients receiving homeless services: $10,000

 Maine Association of Nonprofits, to identify and develop the best ways for MANP to support Maine nonprofits with regards to greater equity awareness and equitable practices: $10,000

 Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, to create a guide for fishermen that provides information and resources about mental health, wellness, and well-being: $10,000

 Maine Development Foundation, to deliver programs that are more inclusive by first ensuring a deep understanding of MDF and its programs and inherent barriers to inclusion: $10,000

 Maine Handgun Violence Education Foundation, to provide pediatricians with the resources and materials necessary to ensure their patients live in homes with safely-secured firearms: $10,000

 Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, to continue to support our community integration efforts for newly arrived asylum seekers in Maine and filling in the gaps where city services end: $10,000

 Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, to address issues of confined and formerly confined citizens and to expand state-wide meeting locations in order to increase access to people of color: $10,000

 Maine Youth Justice, to train young people who are directly impacted by the juvenile justice system in organizing and advocacy skills: $10,000

 New England Arab American Organization, to reach different communities in Maine by traveling with different partners to provide art, science, and music and raising health awareness: $10,000

 New England Music Camp Association, for an Orton Family Heart & Soul coordinator who will also work on the Community Development Plan for the Belgrade Lakes: $8,000

 OUT Maine, to develop trainings for boards of directors of youth organizations and for school boards to educate decisionmakers on how to create safety for LGBTQ+ youth: $10,000

 Salt Pond Community Broadcasting Company, to create a digital library of newly acquired music and to update WERU's preexisting digital archives so that both are permanently available to the public: $10,000

 Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine, to purchase fundraising software to manage and maintain growing donor lists and fundraising events in support of core programming: $5,000

 Southern Maine Agency on Aging, for technology upgrades to the organization’s server hardware and operating systems: $7,640

 Waterville Creates!, to develop one unified website for Waterville Creates! and its divisions (Maine Film Center, Waterville Opera House, Common Street Arts) with a comprehensive event calendar: $10,000

MaineCF recognizes that many nonprofits are facing new challenges and making important changes to their work as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of this, all Community Building grant recipients are able to use these grants at their discretion, according to MaineCF, in a news release. They may use the grants to fund the work that they proposed in their application or use the funding to address other important and emerging organizational expenses.

The Statewide Fund is a permanent endowment that supports organizations that apply for multi-county projects. Applications go through MaineCF’s Community Building Grant Program and are reviewed by a committee of leaders. The next proposal deadline is February 15, 2021. The application, guidelines and a complete list of 2020 grants can be found at www.mainecf.org.

The Statewide Fund is built through donations from the community. If you would like more information about the fund, please contact Director of Strategic Learning Cherie Galyean at cgalyean@mainecf.org or (207) 412-2017.