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September 18, 2024 2024 Giving Guide

Maine Community Foundation

 

Deborah A. Ellwood, President and CEO, Maine Community Foundation

What does it mean to build a better Maine? 

Building a better Maine is our mission at the Maine Community Foundation (MaineCF) – Maine’s second largest foundation and sole community foundation. Our staff work toward this goal every day through grants and scholarships, donor and financial services and partnerships with people and organizations throughout all 16 counties.

Being Maine’s sole community foundation means MaineCF priorities come from Maine people and communities. Over the past year, more than 1,500 Mainers provided their time, expertise and feedback as part of MaineCF’s 2023-24 needs assessment. Here is what we learned. Mainers identified several critical areas where we have the greatest needs: housing, mental health & substance abuse, climate, early childhood development, access to healthcare, equity and economic opportunity.

Now, our work is underway. Our staff, Board, our 16 county committees and hundreds of volunteers are working to determine where MaineCF is best positioned as a community leader to bring people and resources together to make a measurable impact on these priorities.

Critically, equity is a through-line for any issue we seek to address. We know Black Mainers experience a homeownership rate that is 50 points lower than white Mainers; climate disruption impacts people with fewer advantages much more harshly; the poverty rates for Black and Indigenous Mainers are two and a half times that of white Mainers. Equity in Maine means recognizing there are more than 50,000 rural Mainers living in poverty. To realize our vision of a Maine that is a vibrant and equitable place where people and communities thrive, we need to address all these equity challenges .

Amid the assessment process last year, we were all stunned by the tragedy of the mass shooting in Lewiston. Maine Community Foundation responded immediately and collaboratively in line with our expertise. We managed an open, transparent process where more than 5,000 Maine people and 100 businesses donated $6.6 million to victims, families and the community based on guidance from the nation’s foremost advocate for victims of mass shootings. We are grateful for all the businesses, individuals and foundations who participated in these efforts.

Maine Community Foundation has been a trusted, effective community leader and partner for more than 40 years. We have listened to Mainers on their critical needs today and are passionately committed to our mission — bringing people and resources together to build a better Maine in the years to come.