The Bucksport Bay Healthy Communities Coalition, a public health organization serving Bucksport and surrounding towns for more than three decades, is set to dissolve at the end of March.
The nonprofit cited reduced grant funding, a lack of volunteers and “ongoing capacity challenges,” Bucksport’s town manager, Jacob Gran, said at a Town Council meeting Thursday when announcing the closure.
“They’ve done a lot of good work,” he said.
The closure comes at a time when other health resources have been shuttered across eastern Maine and in Hancock County, and as nonprofits that provide public services are seeing their funding sources strained under federal cuts since the start of the second Trump administration.
The coalition formed in 1995 when the Bucksport Regional Health Center supported the start of a healthy communities program for the town and neighboring communities, according to Bangor Daily News archives.
It’s been a nonprofit since 2010 and led numerous public health initiatives, including early childhood education, substance abuse prevention, a diversion program for youths facing criminal charges, a meal program for older adults, a regional shuttle service, fitness programs, affordable home repair and support for seniors.
It now offers services including therapy referrals, blood pressure clinics, a check-in call program for seniors, cancer support, emergency preparedness, help with technology, shuttle service and resource navigation for people to stay in their homes as they age, according to its website.
The organization has noted the area’s older residents will still need the services it has provided, according to Gran. It will gather more data about aging-related needs locally and work with other area nonprofits to identify gaps in services over the next few months, with plans to present its findings to the council in April.
Councilor Tracey Hair said Thursday that she attended the coalition’s meetings and saw how hard its members worked to find a way to continue operating.
She noted one of the recent highlights of its work was service provider meetings with others in town, which began during the pandemic.
The organization was also a major focus for Mary Jane Bush, a public health advocate who died last February and was remembered for her work expanding resources from the 1980s onward for the region with an aging population, a changing economy and the onset of the opioid epidemic.
“While I’m saddened that they couldn’t find a way forward, the effort certainly was put in, and it has not been an easy decision for any of the board,” Hair said, calling the coalition a “really solid organization” for the town.