Foundation Awards $250,000 to in Response to Rising Youth Mental Health Concerns

The John T. Gorman Foundation has awarded 11 grants totaling $250,000 to help Maine organizations increase mental health, wellness, and community support opportunities for older youth during the pandemic. The funding comes in response to rising concerns about the well-being of young adults, who are suffering from the mental health effects of the prolonged pandemic … Read more

Press Herald Op-Ed: Let’s turn pandemic lifelines into ladders out of poverty

The Portland Press Herald recently published an op-ed written by Chief Program Officer Nicole Witherbee about the opportunity Child Tax Credits present for lifting families out of poverty. “In greatly increasing the eligibility for and amount of Child Tax Credits, the stimulus is estimated to cut child poverty in half over the next year. While … Read more

Press Herald Op-Ed: Families get long-term boost from support that focuses on both generations

The Portland Press Herald has published an op-ed written by Senior Program Associate Jennifer Beck about using a two-generation approach to support family success amid the pandemic. “In this new year there is an opportunity for our state to regroup, recover and rebuild – not just from the pandemic, but also from the systemic barriers … Read more

Fall 2020 Foundation News of Note

Maine Working Communities Challenge: The John T. Gorman Foundation is proud to join the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, State of Maine, and other philanthropic partners in helping launch the Maine Working Communities Challenge. This challenge will make $2.7 million in grants available to drive economic growth while reducing inequity in Maine’s rural towns and … Read more

Supporting Remote Learning in Portland and Lewiston

In its latest efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation is supporting efforts to help families through a school year unlike any other – with $235,000 in grants to supplement partners’ efforts to provide childcare and remote learning support in Lewiston, and for a two-generation initiative to strengthen literacy among English Language Learner families in Portland’s East Bayside Neighborhood.