
<h2>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

Grants for Change

Rapid Response

Donor Advised

COVID-19 Funds

Other

<p><strong>2022</strong><br />
Grants for Change</p>


Generational Noor

Maine Black Educators Collective

Wabanaki Youth in Science (WaYS)

Bomazeen Land Trust


<p>Her Safety is a community based nonprofit organization that works with immigrant communities in Maine who are faced with many challenges in adapting to their new environment. The organization&#8217;s main goal is to protect women of all ages from gender-based violence including domestic violence, sexual violence, and sexual trafficking.  To create awareness about these violent criminal activities, the organization also provides education and outreach about these topics in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner and in most spoken languages in Maine. </p>


Her Safety Net


<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><strong>2022</strong></p>
<p>ILO Fund, Grants for Change</p>



<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


<p><strong>Our vision is that refugees and people seeking asylum will be welcome in the USA. They will get justice, live free of poverty and be able to successfully rebuild their lives</strong></p>


Al Badoo Community Association of Maine

<div class="grants"><strong>2018-2020</strong><br />
COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>The mission of the Abbe Museum, Maine’s first and only Smithsonian Affiliate is to inspire new learning about the Wabanaki Nations with every visit. With two locations – in downtown Bar Harbor and inside Acadia National Park at Sieur de Monts Spring – the Abbe works closely with the Wabanaki people to share their stories, history, and culture with a broader audience. With a collection of over 70,000 archaeological, historic, and contemporary objects, the Museum’s collections conservation program is recognized nationally as a model for museums. The Abbe also holds the world’s largest and best-documented collection of Maine Native American basketry.</p>


Abbe Museum's entrance surrounded by trees and gardens in the summer

Abbe Museum


<p>AK Health and Social Services is a non-profit organization that provides social advocacy and advisory services by providing the link between the community and authorities. The firm associates with different Community Based Organizations, gathers data deeply relevant to the intrinsic needs of the communities, analyses data and searches for practical solutions to the emerging needs of the various segments of the society. Our organization is committed to partner with the various stakeholders towards attaining the overall goal of social justice by safeguarding social welfare and leveraging vulnerable groups through creation of opportunities for self emancipation. The need became apparent due to the existence of social gaps in livelihoods, education, public health services and environmental concerns that are inherent due to the profound nature of the cultural-based dynamics.</p>


Two workers at AK Health and Social Services pose for the camera wearing masks on their faces

AK Health and Social Services


<p>Founded in 1828 by six black men, the Abyssinian Meeting House was the historical, religious, educational and cultural center of Portland’s 19th century African American population. It is the third oldest standing African American meeting house in The United States The Abyssinian Meeting House was closely associated with the Underground Railroad, with Portland being one of the northernmost hubs and last stop before legal freedom outside the country.</p>


Abyssinian Meeting House entrance in Portland, Maine

Abyssinian Meeting House


<p>Afghan Community of Maine works to integrate Afghan refugees and immigrants in Maine through education, information sharing and connection to a variety of services, resources and opportunities.</p>


Afghan Community of Maine

<div class="grants"><strong>2018-2020</strong><br />
COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change
</div>



<p>Founded in 1917, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. AFSC’s Wabanaki Program has been working for over 27 years on building Native grassroots movements that seek to address problems in the Native communities of Maine. The program works to uncover, acknowledge, and redress a history of systemic repression, racism, and abuse of Native people. The Wabanaki Program assists youth in realizing their rightful place in their communities and the world through the development of leadership, fostering high self-esteem, and instilling a positive cultural identity among both youth and adults in Maine’s Native communities.</p>


American Friends Service Committee- Wabanaki Program


<p>Angolan Community of Maine (ACM) is a non-profit community-based organization that was founded and is led-by a group of current and former Angolan refugees and immigrants, primarily for the advancement of immigrants.” ACM is established in the State of Maine cities/communities with sizeable Angolan populations and provide a myriad of funded or volunteer-led programs.</p>


Angolan Community of Maine


<p>The Azerbaijan Society of Maine promotes and celebrates Azerbaijan culture and heritage in Maine. We believe that through meaningful services to our community we can sustain the healthy workforce pipeline, economic diversity and cross-cultural educational exchange that will help our society flourish.</p>


A lighthouse logo design representing the Azerbaijan Society

Azerbaijan Society of Maine

<div class="grants"><strong>2017-2019</strong><br />
COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>The Black Artist Forum of Maine (BAF) is a coalition dedicated to contributing to the growth of individual creators and the community of black artists in Maine. Through supportive environments and conditions that strengthen Maine’s artistic community, we create visibility for artistic diversity while making cultural resources and opportunities accessible for the black arts community.</p>


Black Artists’ Forum

<div class="grants"><strong>2020</strong><br />
Grants for Change, COVID-19 Community Care Fund</div>



<p>A new organization formed this June, BOM has quickly become a central platform advocating for Black-owned businesses. They operate a website with up to date listings of Black-owned businesses, facilitate a mutual aid program that directly supports businesses and families, and have been active in highlighting the needs of BIPOC-led small businesses to the State.</p>


Two black adults stand and smile with black t-shirts saying, don't talk, act.

Black Owned Maine


<p>BLACK P.O.W.E.R. was established as an organization dedicated to and aligned with the demands and mission of the national Movement for Black Lives. We are a collective of local Black organizers, activists, and community members who are promoting racial justice and social consciousness by holding our shared community and government accountable.</p>


Men and women lay flat on their chests with hands behind their backs in solidarity for Black rights

Black P.O.W.E.R.


<p>An immigrant grassroots organization working for a fair integration process for all immigrants in Maine.</p>


A Burundi woman speaks at a podium to an audience

Burundi Community Association of Maine


<p>Formerly The Cambodian Community Association of Maine (CCAM), Khmer Maine is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to improve the quality of life and the social and economic well-being of Cambodian people in Maine through cultural exchange, community building and civic engagement.</p>


Cambodian women wearing masks carry yellow, colorful, gifts

Khmer Maine

<div class="grants"><strong>2018-2022</strong><br />
ILO Fund, COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>The Capital Area New Mainers Project is a cross-cultural organization that welcomes immigrants and works to create a thriving, integrated, multicultural community in central Maine. Based in Augusta, CANMP embraces immigrants as “New Mainers” who bring much-needed diversity, energy, and vitality to our area. At a time when fearful rhetoric dominates the news, CANMP aims to cultivate personal relationships, meet immigrants’ needs, and educate the broader community about diverse cultures and immigration issues.</p>


men and women stand outside with a microphone to share awareness for public health

Capital Area New Mainers Project

<div class="grants"><strong>2018-2020</strong><br />
ILO 2021, COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>Choose Yourself is a young immigrant women led organization, working to build a world where racial and gender equity reigns by making sure the youth has access to economic and social power. The organization aims to empower young immigrants to feel at home and channel a sense of belonging then be part of community building. Inspired by lived experiences, as young teenagers who immigrated to Maine, some unaccompanied with no families, the team at Choose Yourself works to make the process of integration easier for young immigrants especially girls who go through a lot of identity crisis plus being exposed and vulnerable to sexual exploitation.</p>


Young women smile at each other in a classroom

Choose Yourself


<p>The Coalition on Racial Equity (CORE) is made up of Maine-based advocacy groups working together to increase racial equity in our state through public policy that addresses systemic racism.</p>


Coalition on Racial Equity

Congolese men and women hand out bath tissue to their community

Congolese Brazzaville Community of Maine


<p>Congolese Community of Maine, a community based organization, mission is to facilitate integration and orientation of Congolese people in Maine. It assists Congolese families in search of affordable housing, food services, employment, childcare services, and general basic needs. CocoMaine promotes entrepreneurship and Congolese culture and value through educational workshops, social events, public forums.</p>


A Congolese man proudly smiles while wearing a colorful scarf

COCOMaine


<p>Cross Cultural Community Services is a non-profit organization run and owned by three women of color who have worked together for over 15 years conducting trainings to community members and organizations on cultural differences, US customs and norms and policies. These women have vast education, knowledge and expertise on refugees, immigrants and persons of color and are strong advocates for social justice, policy and “system” change so disenfranchised persons are afforded fair and equitable treatment.</p>


Two cross-cultural women smile in front of a YMCA sign

Cross Cultural Community Services


<p>Maine Citizens for Clean Elections and the League of Women Voters of Maine use their collective power to work for racial equity in our democracy in a uniquely nonpartisan and sustainable joint effort. These organizations have built strong brands, stellar reputations and complementary strengths. As a unit, they believe that to truly make long lasting improvements in our democracy is through the power of the people themselves, and therefore work for a government of, by, and for the people.</p>


Women gather and hold a sign saying, Maine Citizens for Clean Elections

Democracy Maine

<div class="grants"><strong>2019-2021</strong><br />
COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Collective is a network of Indigenous womxn restoring the spiritual foundation of their livelihoods through regenerative food systems. EWRC’s decision-making intentionally aligns with principals of matriation, with an ultimate goal of embodying a cooperative whose non-exploitative sustainable work nurtures the earth, our communities, our whole selves, and our member’s families in traditionally balanced economic roles. This balanced way of life has been violently tested, limited, and stripped away from our womxn throughout 400 years of colonization. By centering indigenous womxn and two-spirits as medicine people, midwives and food producers, we are rematriating our food and economic systems in a way that is more resilient and just.</p>


Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Collective


<p>In 2001, a small but inspired group of Penobscot tribal members set out upon a path that would lead to the creation of Four Directions Development Corporation (FDDC), one of the nation’s most successful Native American Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). Structured as a nonprofit revolving loan pool and service provider, FDDC responds to the particular credit and information needs of tribal members, who often face systemic barriers to asset building. Collateral restrictions, strict underwriting standards, and other factors often prohibit tribal members from securing affordable financial capital. FDDC provides, either directly, or in partnership with other Maine agencies, specially designed programs to ensure that tribal members of all four Maine tribes – the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Micmac and Maliseet – are able to access and use capital resources effectively and efficiently.</p>


A man paddles a canoe in a serene Maine lake

Four Directions Development Corporation


<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>Our purpose is to help older immigrant men and women, from 45-75, stay healthy, upscale their skills, obtain employment and remain employed, volunteer in the community, overcome trauma, and live a fruitful, and satisfying life.</p>


Golden Opportunity


<p>The mission of The Harriet Tubman Movement Coalition is to provide Black Indigenous Women of Color (BIWOC) in Maine sustainable pathways to heal from the soul wounds of racialized trauma and to cultivate their leadership as critically valued stakeholders within their relations and communities. Providing an outlet for BIWOC to heal from racialized trauma will support their efforts to dismantle, heal, and liberate additional communities of color in Maine from the effects of radicalized trauma.</p>


Harriet Tubman Movement Coalition


<p>Homeless Voices for Justice is a state-wide social change movement, organized and led by people who have struggled with homelessness. It is a grassroots effort based on the belief that true change occurs only when those affected by an unjust system are directly involved in addressing the injustices and in which disenfranchised people become empowered and gain leadership skills to organize and advocate for institutional change.</p>


A group sits on city hall steps with signs promoting support for homeless

Homeless Voices for Justice


<p>Hope Acts work is rooted in our strong belief that asylum seekers and immigrants deserve an opportunity to thrive in the U.S. Our apartment building in downtown Portland ME, Hope House, is both a home for asylum seekers and a space where we provide English classes and individualized support.</p>


Many women work together with knives chopping herbs together

Hope Acts


<p>Supporting 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 />
COVID-19 Community Care Fund, 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


<p>Indigo Arts Alliance’s purpose is to build global connections by bringing together artists from diverse backgrounds of the African Diaspora to engage in their creative process with an opportunity to serve as both mentors and mentees. An integral aspect of the Indigo vision is to provide Maine based artists of African descent access to a broader range of practicing Black artists and artists of color from around the world.</p>


A man and woman collaborate on a tactile blocks art project

Indigo Arts Alliance


<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

Jamaica Community


<p>Ladder to the Moon was founded in 2014. Its mission is to increase awareness and inform the Maine public about conditions people face in Africa that motivate them to migrate to the United States and the challenges African immigrants face as they start to resettle here in Maine. Ladder to the Moon will publish Amjambo Africa!, a free monthly newspaper that highlights and celebrates the immigrant communities here in Maine and informs the broader public about these communities, their countries of origin and the many ways they are contributing to our community here in Maine.</p>


Ladder to the Moon


<p>Maine Access Immigrant Network (MAIN) serves as a bridge and cultural broker between mainstream health care and social services and the refugee and immigrant communities living in Maine. Through case management for adults, resource and referral services, and educational health prevention workshops that meet culturally/linguistically appropriate standards, MAIN ensures equal access to quality health and social services. Since its inception as Somali Culture and Development Association in 2002, MAIN has, and continues to be, an organization of, by, and for the refugee and immigrant communities we serve.</p>


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

Maine Access Immigrant Network


<p>MANA is an immigrant-led organization that promotes social &amp; personal empowerment of immigrants through: raising awareness of individual and collective trauma and how they affect our lives, expanding people’s resilience building strategies by exploring various resources, and connecting people with their peers across cultures.</p>


A few adults gather and smile at a circle conference table

Maine Association for New Americans


<p>Maine Center for Electronic Music (MCEM) aims to release dance music culture from the grips of addiction, dead end production and stigma by creating opportunities for development and presentation. MCEM was designed as a way to support artists from economically, geographically and culturally marginalized communities. The space MCEM provides allows for collaboration across cultures and groups, and allows a broad range of people to create art.</p>


A woman sits in a club with blue, purple and yellow light shining on her face

Maine Center for Electronic Music


<p>Maine Community Integration (MCI) helps to support the integration of African immigrants into American society while respecting the integrity of diverse cultural values, identities, traditions and ways. More broadly, they serve the interests of the immigrant communities and the host community by bridging gaps in understanding, knowledge, experience, and skills in order to celebrate an inclusive, integrated Lewiston-Auburn. MCI works to sustain the social vitality and cultural vibrancy of the New-Mainers heritage by strengthening family life, uplifting human services, binding together the historical traditions by supporting families, providing and assisting clients with needed social services, and organizing meaningful traditional and cultural events.</p>


Young immigrant men celebrate with their soccer trophy

Maine Community Integration


<p>Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services (MEIRS) educates, assists, and empowers immigrant and refugee youth and their families toward a goal of social and economic self-sufficiency and mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. MEIRS promotes a pathway toward citizenship and community engagement, creating opportunities for inclusion and meaningful participation for immigrants and refugees.</p>


Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services

<div class="grants"><strong>2016-2018, 2021, 2022</strong><br />
ILO Fund, COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition strives to improve the legal, social and economic conditions experienced by Maine’s Immigrants – enhancing their lives and strengthening Maine – through advocacy, information sharing, and fostering collaboration among member organizations. This mission is important and specific in Maine as the coalition is the umbrella for the immigrants’ rights movement in Maine. With 52 member organizations, MIRC is one of the most diverse coalition in Maine. From immigrant groups, advocacy organizations to service providers and faith congregations, the coalition encompasses most of the constituencies that care about immigrants’ rights and immigrant integration.</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 />
COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>Maine Inside Out activates individuals and communities to imagine and embody freedom through art, advocacy and support, and transformative justice. Formerly incarcerated people lead our work to build a world where everyone matters and belongs.</p>


Young actors stand and pose on a stage in red sweatshirts

Maine Inside Out

<div class="grants"><strong>2017-2019, 2020, 2022</strong><br />
COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>MPAC, a statewide grassroots social action and change group builds coalition partnerships with incarcerated citizens in Maine’s prisons and jails and throughout Maine to revise policies and practices affecting those most in need of a power rebalance and equitable justice: Prisoners and former prisoners, their families, and victims of crime. Because of the disproportionate number of incarcerated People of Color in Maine, comparative to overall population, much of MPAC’s work focuses on Prisoners of Color in the prisons and county jails, including Youth of Color at Long Creek Youth Center. Additionally, MPAC works closely with former Adult and Youth Prisoners of Color, training leaders for advocacy and activist programs statewide.</p>


Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition


<p>Maine Youth Justice is a nonpartisan campaign to end youth incarceration in Maine and invest in a range of community-based alternatives that respond to young people’s needs, support families, and build community in support of community alternatives to youth incarceration.</p>


A smiling man holds a sign saying, Maine Youth Justice

Maine Youth Justice


<p>REACH believes Wabanaki and Maine people want to change that narrative and be in right relationship with each other and the earth and we have confidence in the transformative power of processes of truth, healing and change. We know that shining a light on the past and within ourselves, families and communities is a critical step in moving Maine toward true racial justice and equity.</p>


A Maine Wabanaki woman holds her child in her arms and smiles

Wabanaki REACH


<p>Mano en Mano helps farmworkers and New Mainers thrive in Downeast Maine. For us, that means not only meeting the needs of community members today, such as healthcare, social services, housing, employment assistance, and education; but also challenging the reasons why those needs exist in the first place.</p>


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

Mano en Mano


<p>The goal of our organization is to help as many individuals as we can so that they, too, can live better lives in the community. We tackle on various concerns regarding mental and behavioral health, finances, education, economical self-reliance, and more. Our organization was also formed so that we can encourage the members of our communities to join forces and help each other. As a nonprofit organization that facilitates change, we aspire to become the beacon of hope and inspiration for all.</p>


Multi-cultural men and women wear PPP equipment

Multicultural Community and Family Support Services


<p>The NAACP Maine State Prison Branch is an official branch of the national NAACP. The group is actively involved in policy making at the state level, hosts voter registration drives and other civic engagement events within the Maine State Prison, and generally advocates for prisoner rights.</p>


NAACP Maine State Prison Branch


<p>New England Arab American Organization’s mission is to help ease the integration of Arab Immigrants into American society and bridge the gap between the cultures. The Not Alone Program serves to support women, in Portland and Westbrook, come together to share their stories, learn how to sow, cook, and be in community with one another.</p>


A mother holds her young child up and smiles

New England Arab American Organization


<p>Started by the initiatives of a handful of college and university students wanting to give back to their communities, New Mainers Public Health Initiatives (NMPHI) works to promote healthy habits and change attitudes, beliefs and behavior. NMPHI brings awareness about the importance of good health to the immigrant and refugee members of the community in Lewiston/Auburn, empowering people to take control of their healthcare through an understanding of medical diagnoses and treatment plans, and by becoming informed about primary and secondary prevention.</p>


New Mainers Public Health Initiative

<div class="grants"><strong>2019-2021, 2022</strong><br />
COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>The Wabanaki Cultural Preservation Coalition (WCPC) is dedicated to preserving and promoting all aspects of Mic Mac, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, and Abenaki ceremonies, traditions, customs, and language through practice and education. To advance this goal, WCPC is deeply committed to the sacred, unbroken relationship between the People and the ancestral lands and waterways of the Wabanaki Confederacy. Nibezun means “medicine” in the Penobscot language, with its root word ‘nibi’ meaning water – the first medicine. Located on the banks of the Penobscot River, our organization uses culture, connection, and community to heal intergenerational trauma.</p>


A woman harvests greens from the branch into her red bucket

Nibezun


<p>Operation Breaking Stereotypes (OBS) is a non-profit, service-based organization working with schools in Maine, Boston, and New York City to help students address ethnic, socio-economic, gender, and racial stereotypes through writing, reading, music, photography, and personal connections. Since our founding in 2002, OBS has worked with more than 2500 Maine, Boston, and New York City middle and high school students, facilitating exchanges between diverse groups of learners.</p>


High School aged men and women pose and smile together in front of a sign up table

Operation Breaking Stereotypes


<p>The Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Maine Tribal Populations was established by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills in 2019. The independent entity has a mission to examine racial disparities across all systems and to specifically work at improving the status and outcomes for historically disadvantaged racial, indigenous and tribal populations in the State. The Commission is empowered by statute to advise and consult with all three branches of state government.</p>


Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Maine Tribal Populations


<p>Portland Empowered strives to ensure that student and parent voices are reflected in policy and practice within Portland Public Schools. Students and parents are experts on what they need to be successful in education, and our Youth Engagement Partners and Parent Engagement Partners are critical assets to education reform in Portland and beyond. We also share the knowledge and tools Portland Empowered develops to deepen the impact of student and parent engagement initiatives in Greater Portland and across the country.</p>


A circle group of people discuss empowerment

Portland Empowered


<p>Outright supports underserved members of the LGBTQ+ youth population through weekly drop-in hours, ongoing mentorship, social events, and trainings, as well as intentional support to youth navigating systems — such as the juvenile justice system, foster care, homelessness and mental health services. They are a community of people who are invested in each other, building deep connections, sharing both our struggle and joy, while fighting for each other’s dignity and survival.</p>


Young LGBTQ people stand in front of city hall with a protest sign saying, don't mistake our tenderness for weakness

Portland Outright

<div class="grants"><strong>2020-2022</strong><br />
Grants for Change, COVID-19 Community Care Fund, ILO Fund 2020</div>



<p>Presente! Maine targets the empowerment and integration of the Latino community in Maine through education, community organizing, civic engagement, and direct support and services.</p>


Volunteers clean out a house and smile at the front door

Presente! Maine


<p>ProsperityME is a non-profit service organization dedicated to helping Maine’s immigrants and refugees build successful, rewarding lives in their new homeland.</p>


A man listens to a speaker in a classroom.

ProsperityME


<p>We provide support for all communities across the state through racial justice consulting, education, advocacy, and solution based action plans in order to better equip individuals, organizations, businesses, and institutions to tackle racial justice issues. We support Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Communities of Color for surviving and thriving with more equality, justice, liberation, resources, safety, cultural wellness, healing, empowerment, and opportunities.</p>


A young woman speaks to a crowd in front of a microphone promoting racial equality

Racial Equity and Justice

<div class="grants"><strong>2016-2018</strong><br />
COVID-19 Community Care Fund, Grants for Change</div>



<p>Raise­-Op provides housing where Social and Financial Equity can be developed and sustained for all current and future members. The four principles that support this mission are: Respect for other people and cooperative property; Accountability to the cooperative and to each other; Integration across different social groups; Solidarity with individual members who face various social and economic challenges, and Solidarity with the movement for safe and affordable housing.</p>


Raise-Op Housing Cooperative

<div class="grants"><strong>2019-2021</strong><br />
Grants for Change, COVID-19 Community Care Fund</div>



<p>ROSC’s mission is to build and support a movement for nonviolent social change that will educate, activate, &amp; empower all Maine people through grassroots community organizing. In addition to the mission above, ROSC’s goal “is to share resources and support all Maine people who want to engage in social change work, particularly those who are the most affected by oppressive systems. We strive to build organizing infrastructure and strengthen cross-issue statewide movement building by increasing leadership development for grassroots organizers, promoting democratic practices within organizations, and supporting work that gets to root causes of injustice.”</p>


Resources for Organizing and Social Change


<p>Rise and ​Shine Youth Retreat​ is a traveling wellness and creative practice that highlights the voices and responds to the emotional needs of youth of color between the ages of 12-18.​ It is​ designed to ​fulfill a community of youth​ who are dedicated to self-development and the empowerment of their peers as well as understand their capacity to be leaders in society​. Rise and Shine Youth Retreat creates environments that inspire exploration in nature, creative expression and ​self-care ​rituals to nurture ​youth wellness and leadership.</p>


Young African women gather in a circle and dangce

Rise and Shine Youth Retreat


<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

<div class="grants"><strong>2016-2018, 2021, 2022</strong><br />
Grants for Change, ILO Fund, COVID-19 Community Care Fund</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>


A somali man gathers a crop into a bundle

Somali Bantu Community Association


<p>Somali Community Center of Maine supports Maine’s Somali immigrants and their families through advocacy, mentorship, youth activities, and literacy. The SCCM seeks to help community members overcome linguistic and cultural barriers, and achieve educational and economic opportunity in Maine.</p>


Grantees

Our grantees bring communities together and make change happen.

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