Dear Friends:

Thanks to the incredible support of donors like you, we are making $308,920 in grants to grassroots organizations in Maine!

These grants will go to 54 organizations that are providing critical leadership in this moment by:

• Connecting people to immediate assistance, like Presente! Maine’s food brigade providing food to immigrant families and families in need in southern Maine.
• Advocating on behalf of community members that are the most directly impacted, like Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition’s work to make sure that incarcerated folks are treated safely and humanely during this pandemic.
• Building a road map for the long term response to injustices being exacerbated by this crisis, like Democracy Maine’s efforts to ensure that upcoming elections provide every eligible Mainer with the opportunity to safely exercise their right to vote.

These grants represent a combination of funds: $152,080 raised from the community through the COVID-19 Community Care Fund to support racial justice organizations, and $156,840 contributed by the members of the Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative to the Immigrant-Led Organizations Fund to support immigrant-led and immigrant-serving organizations.

These organizations are powerful: they understand what a moment of crisis looks like and requires and they are adapting and organizing to respond. We are proud to support the following organizations shining a light on the path forward in these dark times:

These grants provide general operating support intended to sustain these organizations as they do their vital work in the days and weeks to come.

We will continue our work to raise funds and make sustaining grants to these organizations doing critical work in our communities.  If you would like to support this essential work, you can make a donation here!

In strength and solidarity,
The Maine Initiatives Team