PORTLAND & ELLSWORTH — The Maine Community Foundation’s (MaineCF) Equity Fund awarded $106,500 to 12 nonprofit organizations across the state that support people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community in Maine. The fund strengthens organizations in Maine and supports community-based initiatives.
2023 grantees include:
- Downeast Rainbow Alliance, for general support
- Hardy Girls Healthy Women, to strengthen LGBTQ+ initiatives across its middle and high school programs
- Maine Transgender Network, for general support.
The full list of 2023 Equity Fund grants is:
- Downeast Rainbow Alliance, for general support: 10,000
- Equality Community Center, for general support: $10,000
- Frannie Peabody Center, for integrated and specialized case management, housing and basic needs services for low-income and medically vulnerable individuals living with HIV/AIDS: $10,000
- Hardy Girls Healthy Women, to strengthen LGBTQ+ initiatives across its middle and high school programs to better serve queer program participants: $8,000
- Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center, to provide culturally competent healthcare including gender-affirming hormone therapy for LGBTQ+ people and to connect patients to additional services: $10,000
- Maine Family Planning, to provide assistance to trans and gender-nonconforming patients who are at risk of forgoing gender-affirming services due to financial hardship: $10,000
- Maine Transgender Network, for general support: $10,000
- New Beginnings, to increase safety for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness, trafficking and/or exploitation in Lewiston and rural Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties with outreach and case management: $10,000
- OUT Maine, for general support: $10,000
- Portland Ovations, to present a free Drag Story Time series for southern Maine families in partnership with several community organizations: $500
- Queerly ME, for general support; $8,000
- The Carpenter’s Boat Shop, to create and offer a weeklong woodworking class for LGBTQ+ participants in summer 2024: $10,000
The Equity Fund was established in 1996. Originally funded with a two-year matching grant from the National Lesbian and Gay Community Funding Partnership, the Equity Fund became a permanent fund of MaineCF in December 2000. For more information about the fund, visit www.mainecf.org/equity.
The Maine Community Foundation brings people and resources together to build a better Maine through strategic giving, community leadership, personalized service, local expertise and strong investments. To learn more about the foundation, visit www.mainecf.org.
