AUGUSTA, Maine — President Donald Trump’s administration will give a roughly $8.5 million grant to support the Maine Resiliency Center and ongoing efforts to serve those affected by the 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston that was the deadliest in state history.
Officials shared that update Thursday, a day after the Bangor Daily News and other outlets wrote about testimony on a proposal to give more than $3 million in state funding to the resiliency center in Lewiston to continue and expand services offered since the shooting at a bowling alley and bar in which an Army reservist killed 18 people and injured 13 others.
Danielle Parent, the center’s director, said Wednesday the U.S. Department of Justice had not shared updates on the status of the grant application Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office submitted in February for roughly $8 million in federal money to support the center and a victim compensation fund.
But U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced Thursday afternoon the Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime will award the grant totaling just over $8.5 million for the center, though Frey’s office said it has not yet been formally notified of any award. The center got no explanation on the amount of time it took to secure the money, Parent said.
It came after Collins, a Republican, U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat who represents Maine’s 2nd District and lives in Lewiston, had contacted the Justice Department about the grant’s status, their offices said. Collins spoke to Attorney General Pam Bondi several times since April to advocate for it.
“This funding will allow this important work to continue for victims, their families, first responders and the larger community,” Jim Martin, CEO of Community Concepts, the Maine-based nonprofit that operates the resiliency center, said in a news release.
Collins said the Maine Resiliency Center “remains a critical part of this recovery process,” while King spokesperson Matthew Felling said the senator is thankful the center will continue to serve the hundreds of Mainers “who need support grieving, coping and moving forward.”
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday on the grant. The center on Main Street in Lewiston opened in November 2023 and has since served more than 600 people from roughly 60 Maine communities.
Officials said the center has also assisted those affected by other incidents of violence while offering therapy and trauma-informed care to survivors, family members of victims, law enforcement officers and first responders affected by the mass shooting.
