Recent Awards: AmeriCorps Planning Grants

The Commission funds AmeriCorps Planning Grants so that community organizations and their partners have the resources, technical assistance, and support to develop “shovel-ready” AmeriCorps programs.

During the planning period, grantees work with an advisory committee of community members. Together, they focus on learning about AmeriCorps and refining how it will contribute to addressing the local need. At the end of a 10-month design period, the AmeriCorps program is proposed for operating funds. 

Recipients of AmeriCorps Planning grants do not have service members. FMI on planning grant opportunities, contact Michael Ashmore (michael.ashmore@maine.gov).

Funded in May 2022

Alpha Legal Foundation
Contact: Krystal Williams
krystal@alphalegalfoundation.com
110 Marginal Way, Ste. 195, Portland, ME 04101

Award: $60,000

Alpha Legal Foundation, a BIPOC-led non-profit, proposes to develop an AmeriCorps program to serve the State of Maine. It will address the lack of diversity in Maine's legal profession that impacts the lives of Maine-based BIPOC youth (age K-12), BIPOC college students, BIPOC professionals interested in law school, current BIPOC law school students, early-career BIPOC Attorneys and the more than 3,500 members of Maine's legal in the AmeriCorps focus area(s) of workforce development, economic opportunity and education.

Maine Department of Education
Contact: Julie A. Smyth
julie.a.smyth@maine.gov
23 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0023

Award: $60,000

The Office of School and Student Supports at the Maine Department of Education proposes to develop an AmeriCorps program to serve York County, ME. It will address teacher shortages, mental health and well-being, and access to resources that impact the lives of students PK-12, parents/families, and school personnel in the AmeriCorps focus areas of Economic Opportunity, Education, Healthy Futures, and Capacity Building. The planning activities will be carried out in collaboration with several other offices within the DOE - Early Learning Team, Educator Effectiveness, Higher Education, and Innovative Pathways - as well as potential post-secondary partnerships with the University of New England and York Community College.

Funded September 2022

Kennebec Valley Council of Governments
Contact: Robyn M. Stanicki
rstanicki@kvcog.org
17 Main St., Fairfield, ME 04937 - 1119

Award: $60,000

Kennebec Valley Council of Governments proposes to develop an AmeriCorps program to serve Kennebec, Somerset, and Waldo Counties. It will address Regional Diversity that impacts the lives of Maine's Asylum Seekers and Immigrants, as well as general residents, in the AmeriCorps focus areas of Economic Opportunity and Workforce Development. The planning activities will be carried out in collaboration with the Kennebec Regional
Diversity Coalition, the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce, Kennebec Valley Community Action Program, and the United Way of Kennebec Valley.

Maine Emergency Medical Services
Contact: J. Sam Hurley
j.sam.hurley@maine.gov
45 Commerce Drive, Augusta, ME 04333-0152

Award: $60,000

The Maine Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (Maine EMS) proposes to develop an AmeriCorps program to serve the State of Maine. It will address increasing the quality of emergency medical services that impacts the lives of all visitors and residents of the State of Maine in the AmeriCorps focus area(s) of public health, workforce development (creating new quality improvement specialists), healthy futures for the residents of Maine, and capacity building for the Maine EMS system. The planning activities will be carried out in collaboration with the Maine Community College System, regional EMS partners (Atlantic Partners EMS, Tri-County EMS, and Aroostook EMS), the Quality Assurance and Improvement Committee of the Maine EMS Board, and quality assurance and improvement thought leaders from across the State of Maine.

Unity College Sky Lodge 
Contact: Tara J. Konya
tkonya@unity.edu
Pineland Farms - Yarmouth Hall, 19 Yarmouth Dr Ste 201, New Gloucester ME 04260

Unity College Sky Lodge proposes to develop an AmeriCorps program to serve 11 rural Maine communities in the Moose River Valley Jackman region of Somerset County. It will address workforce development and public health access that impacts the lives of the rural residents in the AmeriCorps focus areas of economic opportunity, education, and healthy futures. The planning activities will be carried out in collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Hills Consolidated School SAD12, the Jackman Region Community Health Advisory Team (CHAT), Somerset Public Health, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).