6 Maine nonprofits receive inaugural grants from Racial Justice Fund
Six Maine nonprofits have received the first financial grants from the Maine Justice Foundation's newly created Racial Justice Fund.
The fund was established late last year to forge social and economic solutions combating racism and assisting Black, Indigenous and people of color in Maine. Since then, corporations and philanthropic leaders across Maine have given over $355,000 to the fund.
The foundation announced in a news release that the following programs and projects each have received grants of $5,000:
• Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center: To support expansion of the center’s iEnglish Project to provide more language training to non-English speaking BIPOC community members so they can join the workforce.
• Healthy Acadia-Downeast Diversity: To support the creation of a podcast, “Downeast Diversity: Stories of Culture and People," which documents the perspective of BIPOC Mainers seeking equity in all aspects of their lives.
• League of Women Voters of Maine Education Fund: To support the Neighbor to Neighbor Voting Project, a nonpartisan education initiative to increase voter engagement in neighborhoods with low voter participation that are largely BIPOC immigrant communities.
• Maine Inside Out: To support the creation of a BIPOC Affinity Group for current and formerly incarcerated youth, led by and for BIPOC staff and youth members to support each other, create original art, build solidarity, leadership and a collective vision for positive change for at-risk BIPOC youth.
• Sunlight Media Collective: To support the creation of multimedia by Maine’s tribal members to document and educate the public about the tribal perspective on issues of environmental justice, land control and the commodification of natural resources and its impact on indigenous people of Maine.
• The Third Place: To support SHIFT, a cross-sector initiative designed to assess and improve racial equity in various workplace sectors such as healthcare, education and law.
“The grants result from thoughtful consideration and hard work by the fund’s volunteer advisory committee, the foundation’s board and staff and generous donations by many corporate and individual leaders,” said Michelle Draeger, the Maine Justice Foundation’s executive director.
“The projects supported will generate statewide impact in fundamental ways that we believe will advance racial justice and equity for BIPOC Mainers.”
The founders of the fund are AARP Maine, Androscoggin Bank, AT&T, Baker Newman Noyes, Bangor Savings Bank, Bernstein Shur, Central Maine Power, Cross Insurance, Deighan Wealth Advisors, Drummond Woodsum, Eaton Peabody, F.L.Putnam Investment Management Co., Gorham Savings Bank, HM Payson, Hancock Lumber, Hannaford Supermarkets, Harvard Pilgrim, Northern Light Health, Pierce Atwood, Preti Flaherty, RM Davis, Verrill and the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.
The Maine Justice Foundation, founded in 1983 as the Maine Bar Foundation, is the state’s leading funder of civil legal aid and is committed to ensuring access to justice for all Mainers.
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