OUT Maine receives $15,000 grant from Castine church
ROCKLAND — OUT Maine has received a $15,000 grant from Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine’s Opportunity Fund for the second year to support the organization’s work towards broadening LGBTQIA2S+ youth support and educational programs for community, school staff, and and service providers throughout Hancock county school system communities.
In 2024, OUT Maine received the first Opportunity Fund grant, and as a result has worked within six school systems in Hancock county to implement school support circles, Gay Straight Trans Alliances, online parent support groups, and educational training for school staff and professionals.
The new grant will continue these vital efforts throughout Hancock county as well as support new program offerings to youth in the area during the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
“The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine has been a generous supporter of our organization’s work in Hancock county, and it is amazing to see that support continue,” says Executive Director Sue Campbell, in a news release. “This funding enables our staff to continue providing essential programs and resources that create safe, affirming spaces for young people to thrive. That’s needed now more than ever. Together, we are building stronger, more inclusive communities where all youth can feel valued and supported.”
LGBTQIA2S+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning, intersex, and two-spirit. Allies are folks who do not identify as LGBTQIA2S+ but have camaraderie with the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Cis or cisgender means a person’s gender identity and sex-assigned-at-birth match. If gender identity and sex-assigned-at-birth do not match, a person may identify as transgender. For more definitions of LGBTQ+ terminology, visit www.outmaine.org/resources/terminology.
OUT Maine has an ambitious goal: to create more welcoming and affirming communities for Maine’s diverse queer youth in all their intersectional identities by changing the very systems that serve them. For more information, please visit www.outmaine.org.
