Building community capacity

Since opening its doors in 1983, the Maine Community Foundation has awarded more than $100 million in grants and scholarships. The foundation has a staff of 30 and assets of $190 million which are held in stewardship for more than 800 funds. Last year, the foundation issued $16 million in grants and scholarships. In 1986, it established the first three county funds to help with grantmaking in more rural regions of the state. These county funds, now numbering 12, are a highly effective way to build community capacity.

Untapped resources

Maine is the oldest, easternmost state in the nation, and has a population of approximately 1.3 million. While baby boomers represent 28 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 32 percent of Maine’s. By 2025, over 21% of Mainers will be over the age of 65, compared to 14% today. Put another way, in a few short years, one out of every five Mainers will be a senior citizen. More than 34 percent of Mainers volunteer, compared to 29.3 percent nationally. Maine has more second homes than any other state. This suggests a potential opportunity to tap part-time and/or financially secure older adults to become more engaged in their communities. Retirees moving to Maine are relatively young, well-educated and healthy, with time and money to spare. Yet Maine is a state with serious needs. Incomes are lower; job growth is slower. Labor force growth is also slow and the cost of living is high.

Simply stated, our goal is to train and link experienced Mainers to nonprofit organizations and communities that can use talented leaders in a volunteer capacity.

— Meredith Jones

For more information

Maine Community Foundation
Lelia L. DeAndrade,
Director of Competitive Grantmaking
207-761-8440, ext. 2209

Harnessing experience in the nation's oldest state

The Maine Community Foundation, in partnership with the University of Maine’s Center on Aging, is creating the Encore Leadership Corps (ENCorps), a statewide initiative that provides training in civic engagement and leadership skills for experienced Mainers aged 50 and older. Through Community Experience Partnership (CEP), the foundation is leveraging the opportunity to focus on civic engagement of older Maine adults through ENCorps by capitalizing on the state’s rich assets, its leadership role as the oldest state in the nation, and its small population and rural character.

The ENCorps program is grounded in the principles of smart growth and environmental stewardship, with an emphasis on how these principles may be used to improve the economic, environmental, and human health of a community. Each year, for three years, the program will train and support 150-200 older Mainers from around the state to introduce and implement smart growth principals and projects in their home communities.