Display of books at Indigo Arts Alliance’s Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival. Courtesy of Sijie Yuan/MaineCF

PORTLAND & ELLSWORTH – Grants of up to $10,000 from Maine Community Foundation’s Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Fund are available to nonprofit programs or organizations that are led by, and serve, people of Native American, Latino, African, Arab, and Asian descent. Grants focus on three areas: addressing health disparities, supporting youth, and improving economic opportunities.

The deadline for applications is Feb. 15, 2021. The application, details of the grant program, and a list of recent grants are available at www.mainecf.org. For additional information, contact Senior Program Officer Gloria Aponte C. at 207-412-0847, or by email at gaponteclarke@mainecf.org.

MaineCF is offering an information session for the 2021 BIPOC grant program on Thursday, Jan. 7 from 12-1 p.m. To attend, please register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wuRebtazS26mmVxNzyVNxg.

Last year the fund awarded $201,774 in grants to 23 organizations. Grantees included:

  • Djiboutian American Community Empowerment Project, to provide dedicated enrichment and mentoring support to 40 youth aged 10-18 in order to materially improve their pride and engagement in school, society
  • Indigo Arts Alliance, to host a community engagement festival designed to celebrate author and artist Ashley Bryan’s legacy and the contribution of children’s book creators of the African Diaspora
  • In Her Presence, to create a funding network which aligns with the growth of the organization’s sustainability by improving the technology equipment for tracking data’s and communication system.

Established in 2007 with a gift from the River Rock Foundation, the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Fund is designed to help people of color in Maine achieve greater equity.

Headquartered in Ellsworth, with additional personnel in Portland, Dover-Foxcroft, Rockport and Mars Hill, the Maine Community Foundation works with donors and other partners to provide strong investments, personalized service, local expertise, and strategic giving to improve the quality of life for all Maine people. To learn more about the foundation, visit www.mainecf.org.