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<h2>Our grantees bring communities together and make change happen.</h2>

We encourage you to take your time here: read about our grantees and the powerful work they are doing to advance justice and equity across our state. They are working across all 16 counties on issues of decarceration, immigrants’ rights, housing equity, decolonization, youth empowerment, and so much more. Explore. Learn. Get involved. Support their work.

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<p>We encourage you to take your time here: read about our grantees and the powerful work they are doing to advance justice and equity across our state. They are working across all 16 counties on issues of decarceration, immigrants’ rights, housing equity, decolonization, youth empowerment, and so much more. Explore. Learn. Get involved. Support their work.</p>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Our grantees bring communities together and make change happen.</h2>



<p>We encourage you to take your time here: read about our grantees and the powerful work they are doing to advance justice and equity across our state. They are working across all 16 counties on issues of decarceration, immigrants’ rights, housing equity, decolonization, youth empowerment, and so much more. Explore. Learn. Get involved. Support their work.</p>


<h1><strong>Grantees</strong></h1>


Grantees

Health Equity & Safety

Social Justice

Immigrant-Serving

Education, Arts & Culture

Economic Justice

Community Organizing

2023

Grants for Change at Maine Initiatives is a grantmaking and community organizing program. It funds and strengthens Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color-led and -serving nonprofit organizations that are leading the work of advancing racial justice in Maine, and engages and connects communities around shared values of racial justice and equity.

Grants for Change

2022

2021

The Immigrant-Led Organizations Fund supports immigrant flourishing in Maine. We fund and strengthen the ecosystem of nonprofit, community-based organizations led by and serving Maine’s immigrants, refugees, asylees, migrant farm workers, and those who are undocumented.

The Outdoor Equity Fund is a partnership between Maine Initiatives and the Nature Based Education Consortium to improve safe, equitable access to outdoor spaces and increased opportunities for nature-based learning for Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color in Maine.

Outdoor Equity Fund

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The Giving Project

MaineShare legacy organizations are a coalition of community-based nonprofits who have worked to advance justice and equity in our state across multiple sectors since 1989.

MaineShare

Maine Initiatives has led multiple rounds of rapid response funding during crises where state and national funding for impacted organizations has been insufficient: responding to the 2017 Muslim Ban; to the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19; and to on-going, multi-year Asylum Seeker Crisis Support efforts.

Rapid Response

The organizations below are past grantees across multiple Maine Initiatives’ funding programs. 

Past Grantees

Other

<div class="ilo align-me"><span>Immigrant-Led Organization Fund</span></div>



<p>Our mission is to build immigrants&#8217; self-reliance.</p>


Action for Life

<div class="grants align-me"><span><strong>2023</strong>Grants for Change</span></div>



<p>To diversify the legal profession, starting in Maine where the first Black attorney was licensed to practice in 1844.</p>


Alpha Legal Foundation

<div class="maineshare align-me"><span>MaineShare</span></div>



<p>The Bicycle Coalition of Maine is a statewide organization working to make Maine a better and safer place to bike, walk, and roll.</p>



<p></p>


Bicycle Coalition of Maine

<div class="grants align-me"><span><strong>2023</strong>Grants for Change, Outdoor Equity Fund</span></div>



<p>Bomazeen Land Trust enables the Abenaki/ Wabanaki people to renew and resume their land caretaking and stewardship roles for lands and waters with historical, spiritual, and ecological significance to the Abenaki/Wabanaki people.</p>


Bomazeen Land Trust

<div class="grants align-me"><span><strong>2022</strong>Grants for Change</span></div>



<p>Community Organizing Alliance (COA) is a social justice, civic engagement organization that centers the voices and experiences of BIPOC &amp; low-income Mainers to ensure they are empowered and engaged in their communities.</p>


Community Organizing Alliance

Congolese men and women hand out bath tissue to their community

Congolese Brazzaville Community of Maine


<p>Consumers for Affordable Health Care advocates the right to quality, affordable health care for all Maine people.</p>


Consumers for Affordable Healthcare


<p>Defend Our Health works to create a world where all people are healthy and thriving, with equal access to safe food and drinking water, and products that are toxic-free and climate-friendly.</p>


Defend Our Health


<p>Disability Rights Maine is mandated by the federal government to enforce and enhance the rights of Maine citizens with disabilities.</p>


Disability Rights Maine


<p>Our mission is to protect and advance full equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Mainers by creating an inclusive and intersectional movement through political action, community building, education, engagement and collaboration.</p>


Equality Maine Foundation


<p>Our mission is to provide food-insecure new Immigrants with respect, dignity, and appreciation through a culturally relevant market that offers and celebrates cultural food and access to resources.</p>


Food for All Services


<p>Friends of Casco Bay&#8217;s mission is to improve and protect the environmental health of Casco Bay. We meet our mission through science, community engagement, and advocacy.</p>


Friends of Casco Bay

<div class="ilo align-me"><span><strong>2022</strong>Immigrant-Led Organization Fund</span></div>



<p>Furniture Friends is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides donated furniture to people in need throughout Greater Portland. With ongoing support from the community, we are able to fulfill our mission of “Creating Homes. Rebuilding Lives.”</p>


Furniture Friends


<p>Gateway Community Services is a nonprofit serving immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in the state of Maine. Serving both Portland and Lewiston, they offer support while creating opportunities for connection between immigrant, refugee, and asylee community members and their neighbors. Gateway is led for and by the people it serves. Programs and services are given from the heart and from first hand experience.</p>


Gateway Community Services


<p>Generational Noor aims to Shed light and provide support in destigmatizing the topic of substance abuse mental health, alcoholism, and drug abuse in immigrant households leading to individuals getting the help they need leading to Rehab and Recovery</p>


Generational Noor


<p>The Genesis Fund connects communities who are creating affordable housing and other essential community resources with the capital and expertise they need to overcome barriers to opportunity and prosperity. A Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Genesis works throughout Maine and in Northern New England to make flexible loans, deliver expert project guidance, and promote policy solutions and systemic change. Genesis offers impact investing for individuals and institutions to move resources toward community needs. As simply as possible, Genesis makes projects happen that otherwise wouldn&#8217;t.</p>


Genesis Community Loan Fund


<p>The Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center serves as a hub of collaboration that strengthens the immigrant community through language acquisition, economic integration and civic engagement.</p>


Two women wear masks while walking house to house holding Making your vote count flyers

Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center


<p>Hardy Girls takes girls and nonbinary youth seriously and puts the power in their hands to challenge a society that ignores their brilliance. Founded in 2000, Hardy Girls is a research-driven organization that partners with 1200+ youth and youth-serving adults annually through its statewide programs.</p>


Hardy Girls


<p>The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine promotes universal respect for human rights through outreach and education. Using the lessons of the Holocaust and other events past and present we encourage individuals and communities to reflect and act upon their moral responsibilities to confront prejudice, intolerance and discrimination.</p>


Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine


<p>Hope Acts offers asylum seekers access to housing and basic needs, assistance in navigating complex immigration processes, and resources for learning English to help them successfully transition to a new life in Maine.</p>


Many women work together with knives chopping herbs together

Hope Acts


<p>The mission of Immigrant Resource Center of Maine is to support refugee and immigrant communities by offering culturally and linguistically sensitive services to promote a healthy and equitable Maine.</p>


Immigrant Resource Center

<div class="grants"><strong>2016-2018, 2021, 2022</strong><br />
Rapid Response, Grants for Change, ILO Fund</div>



<p>Organized and led by immigrant women living in Maine, we strive to bring together immigrant women from across communities and generations to ensure that Maine’s economic agenda includes the aspirations and needs of immigrant women. We create spaces that support women’s empowerment and personal ambitions without losing our unique identity and connect immigrant women and girls for collective empowerment in their communities to address common challenges and issues.</p>


A young black woman speaks into the microphone in front of an audience.

In Her Presence

<div class="grants"><strong>2019-2021</strong><br />
Rapid Response, Grants for Change</div>



<p>Our Mission is to build global connections by bringing together Black and Brown artists from diverse backgrounds to engage in their creative process, while building lasting relationships rooted in co-mentorship. An integral aspect of the Indigo vision is to provide Maine based artists of African descent access to a broader range of practicing artists of color from around the world.</p>


A man and woman collaborate on a tactile blocks art project

Indigo Arts Alliance

<div class="ilo"><strong>2023</strong><br />
Outdoor Equity Fund</div>



<p>The Intercultural Community Center supports and improves the lives of immigrants by providing health, social and educational opportunities.</p>


Intercultural Children laugh and smile by the Maine coast

Intercultural Community Center

<div class="oef align-me"><span><strong>2023</strong>Outdoor Equity Fund</span></div>



<p>Journey ONEderland works to liberate Afro-Indigenous people in Maine and beyond by strengthening relationships between people and the earth through healing retreats, art, science, and outdoor recreation.</p>


Journey ONEderland


<p>Juneteenth Downeast exists to give people of the African diaspora a place to connect, and opportunities to replenish that which was taken away. Whether through connection to the land, the water, to resources or to each other. May we find through this commemoration ways to be true to ourselves, our history, and our Heritage. May we find ways to nourish who we are amidst that which is the best of us.</p>


Juneteenth Downeast

<div class="ilo"><strong>2018-2022</strong><br />
ILO Fund, Rapid Response, Grants for Change</div>



<p>Maine Access Immigrant Network (MAIN) bridges access to health and social services for immigrants and refugees in Portland Maine. Our organization works to build a stronger multicultural community in Portland, and to address refugee health literacy, health care enrollment, and coordination of health care benefits and non-clinical care. MAIN provides resource and referral information that is culturally and linguistically appropriate in English, Arabic, Somali, and French to ensure equal access to programs and services for new Mainers from Africa and Middle East.</p>


An immigrant man speaks to a woman in front of the computer

Maine Access Immigrant Network


<p>The Maine Alliance for Arts Education (MAAE) is an inclusive statewide alliance of arts educators, students, parents, community artists and arts supporters that advocates for education in and through all of the arts for all Maine students, pre-k through grade 12.</p>


Maine Alliance for Arts Education


<p>Dedicated to the elimination of animal abuse and exploitation through education, advocacy, and example.</p>


Maine Animal Coalition


<p>MANA is an immigrant-led organization that promotes social &amp; personal empowerment of immigrants through: </p>



<ul>
<li>Raising awareness of individual and collective trauma and how they affect our lives  </li>



<li>Expanding people’s resilience building strategies by exploring various resources </li>



<li>Providing trauma-aware, multilingual transportation services to address social determinants of health </li>



<li>Connecting people with their peers across cultures</li>
</ul>


A few adults gather and smile at a circle conference table

Maine Association for New Americans


<p>Maine Audubon works to conserve Maine&#8217;s wildlife and wildlife habitat by engaging people of all ages in education, conservation, and action.</p>


Maine Audubon


<p>The mission of MBEC is to support Black Educators in the state of Maine through educational opportunities and socio-emotional connection.</p>


Maine Black Educators Collective


<p>With credible, rigorous economic research and analysis, MECEP advocates for policies that benefit low- and moderate-income Mainers.</p>


Maine Center for Economic Policy


<p>Maine Citizens for Clean Elections is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization working to ensure that Maine’s campaign finance laws, elections, and government serve the public interest, both in principle and in practice. The LWV Education Fund is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization conducting voter service and citizen education activities.</p>


Maine Citizens for Clean Elections


<p>The Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault is organized to end sexual violence and to support high quality sexual violence prevention and response in Maine communities.</p>


Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault


<p>The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence seeks to create and encourage a social, political, and economic environment that fosters communities where the diversity, dignity, and contributions of all are respected and celebrated, and domestic abuse and violence no longer exist. MCEDV advocates for the right of all people to live free from domestic violence all forms of violence.</p>


Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence

<div class="grants"><strong>2018-2022</strong><br />
ILO Fund, Rapid Response, Grants for Change</div>



<p>Maine Community Integration is committed to integrating New Mainers into their communities while respecting and uplifting their diverse cultures, identities, and traditions. We serve the interests of both immigrant and local communities by bridging gaps in mutual understanding in order to create social and systemic change.</p>


Young immigrant men celebrate with their soccer trophy

Maine Community Integration


<p>We speak with a prophetic voice of faith, connecting people within, through, and beyond the church to create a more just, compassionate and peaceful world.</p>


Maine Council of Churches


<p>Maine Equal Justice is a nonprofit legal aid and economic justice organization working to provide economic security, opportunity, and equity for people in Maine.</p>


Maine Equal Justice


<p>Maine Farmland Trust is a member-powered statewide organization that protects farmland, supports farmers, and advances the future of farming.</p>


Maine Farmland Trust


<p>The Maine Federation of Humane Societies’ mission is to provide resources and opportunities, dedicated to promoting and advancing the humane care of all animals throughout the state of Maine.</p>


Maine Federation of Humane Societies


<p>The Maine Hospice Council is the leading advocate, educator and technical resource for Hospice and end-of-life care in Maine. Our mission is to promote universal access to quality end of life care through innovation, creativity, education, advocacy and collaboration.</p>


Maine Hospice Council and Center for End-of-Life Care

<div class="grants"><strong>2016-2018, 2021, 2022</strong><br />
ILO Fund, Rapid Response, Grants for Change</div>



<p>At the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC), our mission is to improve legal, social, and economic conditions for immigrants in the state of Maine.</p>


A man holds a sign saying, hash tag we are maine.

Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition

<div class="grants"><strong>2016-2018, 2020, 2022</strong><br />
Rapid Response, Grants for Change</div>



<p>Maine Inside Out is a 501 © (3) nonprofit organization founded in 2008 based in Lewiston, Maine. Maine Inside Out groups create powerful theater to inform and engage the greater community in dialogue about social change.</p>


Young actors stand and pose on a stage in red sweatshirts

Maine Inside Out


<p>The purpose of Maine Labor Group on Health is to educate Maine’s working people about health and safety in the workplace and to function as a statewide advocate for working people within the health care system. We offer training in cooperation with OSHA training priorities as well as other workplace health and safety training. We advocate for worker empowerment through education.</p>


Maine Labor Group on Health


<p>The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association is creating a food system that is healthy and fair for all of us. Through education, training and advocacy, MOFGA is helping farmers thrive, making more local, organic food available and building sustainable communities.</p>


Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association


<p>Maine Peace Fund(c3) [Peace Action Maine(c4)] is a grassroots, membership-driven organization dedicated to disarmament &amp; peace, to nonviolent conflict resolution, and to creating a climate for peace &amp; peace for climate, one of the founding Maine Share organizations- MPF formed in 1982.</p>


Maine Peace Fund


<p>MPRC is a statewide organization that engages, teaches and empowers everyday citizens to participate in political, legislative policy decision making that impacts their lives via grassroots organizing.</p>


Maine People’s Resource Center

<div class="grants"><strong>2017-2019, 2020, 2022</strong><br />
Rapid Response, Grants for Change</div>



<p>MPAC is a statewide group formed in 2007 to improve conditions for inmates, former inmates, their families, victims of crime and others.</p>


Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition


<p>MRRA helps towns move their recyclables to market and provides various training opportunities to Cities and Towns across Maine.</p>


Maine Resource Recovery Association


<p>Veterans For Peace is the one veterans organization that says no to war and informs the public on the true costs of war.</p>


Maine Veterans for Peace


<p>The MWL Education Fund works to build gender justice in Maine by ensuring our community has the knowledge, skills, and confidence to engage in gender-equitable public policy advocacy and civic life.</p>


Maine Women’s Lobby Education Fund

<div class="grants"><strong>2020</strong><br />
Grants for Change, Rapid Response</div>



<p>We believe that safety comes through strengthening communities, addressing the root causes of harm, and promotion individual and collective well being, not incarceration.</p>


A smiling man holds a sign saying, Maine Youth Justice

Maine Youth Justice


<p>Maine&#8217;s Black Future podcast highlights Black excellence all over Maine, showcasing Maine&#8217;s Black historical figures and Black change makers today. In highlighting Maine&#8217;s continuum of Black influence, we interrupt the violence of erasure, creating a grounded space for Black Mainers to actively create a fulfilling future.</p>


Maine’s Black Future Podcast

<div class="maineshare"><strong>2016-2018, 2021, 2022</strong><br />
Rapid Response, Grants for Change, ILO Fund</div>



<p>To ensure that immigrants and migrant farm workers in Maine are heard, celebrated and thriving in their communities, as determined by community members themselves.</p>


A young child holds a slug in his hands for a closer look

Mano en Mano


<p>More Women+ Surf is a women-led surf organization in Maine breaking down socio-economical, physical, and emotional barriers to create surf and water access for underserved individuals. Hand in hand with allies in the community, MWS+ fosters an inclusive environment that centers women-identifying individuals in the line-up through community-based events, surf and other board sports lessons, and creative storytelling projects.</p>


More Women+ Surf


<p>The Natural Resources Council of Maine is a nonprofit membership organization protecting, restoring, and conserving Maine’s environment, now and for future generations.</p>


Natural Resources Council of Maine


<p>Helping Maine people succeed in the changing economy and achieve economic security for themselves and their families.</p>


New Ventures Maine

<div class="grants"><strong>2019-2021, 2022</strong><br />
Rapid Response, Grants for Change</div>



<p>Nibezun celebrates culture as medicine, provides an inclusive space for healing, and promotes sustainability for all people and future generations.</p>


A woman harvests greens from the branch into her red bucket

Nibezun


<p>Niweskok, a collaboration of food and medicine providers, rematriates Wabanaki lifeways through engaging with our kinship responsibilities and reclaiming traditional foods &amp; healing. We prioritize restoring the Penobscot Bay region as a Wabanaki foodhub.  </p>


Niweskok

<div class="grants"><strong>2020-2022</strong><br />
Grants for Change, Rapid Response, ILO Fund 2020</div>



<p>At Presente! Maine, we work to empower displaced indigenous and afro-Latinx peoples of Maine through survival programs, community power building, cultural celebration, and transformative healing practice.</p>


Volunteers clean out a house and smile at the front door

Presente! Maine


<p>ProsperityME empowers, through education and counseling, members of refugee and immigrant communities to invest in themselves to build financial stability, careers, businesses and wealth.</p>


A man listens to a speaker in a classroom.

ProsperityME

<div class="grants"><strong>2019-2021</strong><br />
Grants for Change, Rapid Response</div>



<p>Promoting community organizing, education, and action for nonviolent social change in Maine.</p>


Resources for Organizing and Social Change


<p>RCAM provides cultural and economic integration guidance to Rwandan Immigrants in Maine through education, information sharing and connection to a variety of services, resources and opportunities.</p>


Rwandese Community Association of Maine


<p>The Sierra Club, Maine Chapter is a volunteer-run grassroots organization working to protect Maine&#8217;s wilderness heritage, fight climate change, promote smart growth, safeguard clean water and coastline, and promote clean air and energy efficiency. The Sierra Club Foundation is the 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor of the Chapter&#8217;s charitable programs.</p>


Sierra Club Foundation, Maine


<p>The mission of the Sipayik Resilience Committee is to foster climate resilience and make energy efficiency technology more accessible to members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point following community directed goals. The SRC is a citizen-led effort that is dedicated to empowering Pleasant Point community members to engage in the decision making process concerning energy and climate actions.</p>


Sipayik Resilience Committee

<div class="grants"><strong>2016-2018, 2021, 2022</strong><br />
Grants for Change, ILO Fund, Rapid Response</div>



<p>Our mission is to provide vital transitional services, advocacy, and food production that empowers members of the refugee community to uphold cultural identity and economic well-being to thrive in their new life here in Maine.</p>


Grantees

Our grantees bring communities together and make change happen.

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