Driving communal action across “one big, small town”
2026 Civic Hub grantee
As the nation’s second-most rural state, Maine is known for its distinctive “one big, small town” character. Nearly 480 communities across 20 million acres reflect a wide range of identities, from working waterfronts and tribal communities to seasonal destinations, small cities, and rural towns shaped by forestry, farming, and changing economies. Maine Community Foundation (MaineCF) helps communities navigate these differences by listening deeply, convening partners, sharing research, and connecting philanthropic resources around shared goals.
A Civic Hub for local action
MaineCF creates spaces where residents can find common ground and act together. Through statewide needs assessments, county funds guided by local volunteers, funder collaboratives, and initiatives focused on local journalism, climate resilience, affordable housing, racial equity, and economic opportunity, MaineCF connects people and local leadership with data and resources they need to shape resilient, thriving communities.
“The Trust for Civic Life’s Civic Hub designation reinforces the work we are doing in collaboration with partners in rural communities throughout all corners of state. At MaineCF, we know communities thrive when we work together.”
—Deborah Ellwood, President and CEO
Maine Community Foundation (2026 Civic Hub grantee)
Community impact in practice
MaineCF’s climate resilience work demonstrates how civic infrastructure can help rural communities move from vulnerability to action. After storms, floods, and coastal surges caused more than $90 million in damage across the state in 2023–2024, many vulnerable rural communities had not yet begun resilience planning.
MaineCF is using its statewide relationships, local advisors, nonprofit partners, and University of Maine partnership to help communities understand barriers and connect with trusted technical support. In Aroostook County, for example, MaineCF is working with a local expert to convene residents and help towns take their first steps toward planning. The goal is for at least 45 of 57 highly vulnerable communities to begin resilience planning over the next five years.
The opportunities ahead
Trust funding will advance three of MaineCF’s interconnected priorities: strengthening community resilience, sustaining local journalism, and deepening a learning journey to educate non-Native communities about the Wabanaki Nations’ sovereignty, culture, and history.
Photos courtesy of Maine Community Foundation.