JTGF Updates 
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.
When John T. Gorman Fellow Stephanie LeBlanc learned that more than half of middle-school students in Oxford County did not feel valued in their community, she saw a red flag that needed to be addressed. What followed was the Oxford County Resiliency Project. With a two-year grant from the Foundation, the program has helped schools across the county implement practices that make students feel safe, supported, and resilient. In this interview, LeBlanc speaks about the project’s successes, next steps, and how the Fellowship has influenced her as a leader.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can have significant effects on a child’s development and chances for future success – a rising concern during a pandemic that is putting them and their families under much greater stress. In this timely analysis, Senior Program Associate Jennifer Beck, PhD., uncovers the science behind ACEs and outlines the strategies the Foundation is using to prevent and mitigate them in Maine.
Since receiving funding this spring, our 2020 Direct Services Grantees have done exceptional work across Maine to meet new and increased needs for low-income Mainers while coping with numerous challenges. These pictures from the field offer a glimpse of how they’ve done it.
The John T. Gorman Foundation has made a grant to support the work of Maine’s new Elder Justice Coordinating Partnership. The following is a press release from the Maine Securities Administration announcing the partnership’s first meeting today. The initiative is being led by John T. Gorman Fellow Jaye Martin, executive director of Legal Services for the Elderly, a longtime partner in the Foundation’s work to help Maine seniors age in place.
Dear Friend, To say the last few months have seen one crisis after another would fall short – for it implies that one crisis subsides before another emerges. Rather, it seems that every day there is ever more to demand our collective attention and action. Of course, there is COVID-19, the impacts of which continue to … Read more
Fellowship Delayed: Due to the COVID pandemic, the Foundation has made the tough decision to delay recruitment for the next cohort of John T. Gorman Fellowship until 2021. An exact date will be shared in the future. During this time, we continue to reach out to and support our past Fellows, who are doing exceptional … Read more
On July 21, the John T. Gorman Foundation hosted a webinar on its recent policy brief, “The Two-Generation Approach: Recommendations for Bridging Practice and Policy in Maine.” Panelists included the brief’s author Sarah Griffen, Maine Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Commissioner Bethany Hamm, and Tracye Fortin, Director of Child and Family Services at … Read more
This May, the John T. Gorman Foundation awarded $700,000 to 43 nonprofits across Maine in its annual Direct Services Grant Program. These grants support efforts to meet immediate, basic needs for low-income Mainers. In this profile, we learn more about first-time grantee Cooking for Community, which is using an innovative approach to help the food insecure and a struggling food industry.
By Alexis Mann, Ph.D., Program Associate An important focus of the John T. Gorman Foundation’s efforts to improve the lives of low-income families in Maine is helping them achieve greater economic stability. One of the most effective ways to do so is ensuring that they have what they need to access – and advance … Read more
