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Dear Friend,
On December 18, a severe storm caused caused significant damage in communities across Maine, including historic flooding that indundated riverfront downtowns, destroyed roads and other infrastructure, and tragically, claimed lives.
Since then, Maine has pulled together to recover from the storm, which was the latest severe weather event to hit our state this year.
The Mills Administration has launched a new online resource to help Maine people in the storm's aftermath that aggregates information, resources, and assistance for Maine people impacted by flooding and damages.
The website, available at www.maine.gov/governor/mills/flood, provides direct links to Maine Bureau of Insurance resources on flooding and storm-related insurance claims, directions on how to report storm damage to the state, up-to-date road closures, and information about how to safely deal with tree debris.
Over the long-term, building resiliency to extreme storms and other related climate impacts are a growing priority for Maine communities.
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For communities interested in funding resilience projects, there are now three open grant opportunities available to expand local and regional planning capacity, protect infrastructure, improve energy efficiency, and transition to clean energy.
These grants will be awarded to Maine cities, towns, and Tribal governments through the state’s Community Resilience Partnership, which helps communities plan for climate change, reduce carbon emissions, and increase resilience.
There are 174 Maine towns, cities and tribal governments engaged in the Partnership. Click here to see our Partner communities and where grants are already at work across Maine. New communities are welcome to enroll at any time.
The Partnership has three grant opportunities now available:
1. Community Action Grants (up to $50,000) These grants will enable eligible communities to implement projects that reduce energy use and costs, transition to clean energy, and make communities in Maine more resilient to climate change. This round of Community Action Grants is open to enrolled communities that have not yet received a Community Action Grant award. The next round of Community Action Grants in the fall of 2024 will open to all enrolled communities. Applications are due on March 29, 2024. An informational webinar will be held on January 4, 11:00 am. Registration is here.
2. *NEW* Energy Efficiency Priorities Grants (up to $100,000) This is a special, one-time grant offering through the Community Resilience Partnership to distribute federal funds to disadvantaged communities for projects that improve energy efficiency and implement clean energy systems. GOPIF anticipates making 10 awards of approximately $100,000 each to eligible communities through a competitive Request for Applications (RFA) process. To be eligible, communities must be enrolled in the Partnership AND be designated as "disadvantaged" by the federal EPA CEJST tool. See RFA for full eligibility requirements. Applications are due on February 16, 2024. An informational webinar will be held on January 4, 1:30 pm (pre-registration not available). Join here.
3. Service Provider Grants These are grants to service provider organizations to assist communities to prepare for and enroll in the Community Resilience Partnership and then apply for grant funds to undertake priority projects. Applications are due on February 2, 2024. An informational webinar will be held on January 4, 10:00 am. Registration is here.
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In addition, MaineDOT has open grant opportunities to help communities become more resilient to climate impacts like extreme storms and flooding:
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Thank you to all who attended our Climate Council meeting on December 1, both in person and online. We're excited to have a wide breadth of experiences, perspectives, and voices represented. If you missed it, a recording is now available on our YouTube channel here.
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Recorded on 12/1/2023
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Interested in working with GOPIF? We currently have two openings in our office, and applications are due December 29.
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If you were forwarded this message, please consider signing up for our newsletter at MaineWontWait.org (link).
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