Portland-based John T. Gorman Foundation has granted a total of $1.2 million to Maine nonprofits that provide assistance with food and shelter.
The grants will go to 70 nonprofits in all 16 Maine counties that received funding through the foundation’s 2026 Direct Services Grant Program. Earlier this year, the foundation gave $100,000 each to Preble Street, a Portland nonprofit that addresses homelessness, and Good Shepherd Food Bank, headquartered in Auburn.
“Food and housing are foundational to the health and well-being of our communities, but as costs continue to rise and assistance is cut, these essentials are becoming increasingly out of reach for many Maine people,” said Nicole Witherbee, president and CEO of the John T. Gorman Foundation.
“These grants will support nonprofits across the state as they respond to growing demand and work to ensure that as many Mainers as possible have food on the table and a safe place to call home,” Witherbee added. “The John T. Gorman Foundation is grateful for their efforts.”
Maine’s food insecurity rate
More than 203,000 Mainers, including nearly 50,600 children, experience food insecurity, according to Feeding America. Maine’s child food insecurity rate — with 1 in 5 children going hungry — is the highest in New England, and has been for several years.
Witherbee noted that housing insecurity is also growing in Maine, due in large part to rising costs for housing and other basic needs. From 2021 to 2025, the state’s median home price increased 37%; from 2019 to 2024, median rent rose 33%.
Grants were as high as $30,000
Some of the largest grants — $30,000 — were awarded to Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, the city of Brewer’s Eastern Area on Aging, Homeless Services of Aroostook in Presque Isle, and New Beginnings in Lewiston.
The full list is on the Gorman Foundation’s website.
The foundation was founded in 1995 by John Thomas Gorman with an initial donation of $1 million. Its mission is to help disadvantaged Mainers, to honor his family and to give back to the community. Gorman grew up in Yarmouth and lived there until his death in 2015. Leon Leonwood Bean, who started L.L.Bean, was his maternal grandfather.
Since the inception of the Direct Services Grant program in 2012, the foundation has awarded $17.4 million through close to 1,000 grants to meet basic needs.
The foundation notes that the DSG program is a relatively small piece of the organization’s total grantmaking, the bulk of which is for invitational grants focused on improving outcomes for Maine children and families.
The foundation gifted a total of $8.47 million in fiscal year 2023, the latest year for which figures are available.
In fiscal year 2024, the foundation had $223.5 million in assets, according to the 2026 Mainebiz Giving Guide, which will be published Sept. 28.
