When Intercultural Community Center (ICC) received their first SLCF grant in 2014 ($7,500), they were a small organization offering afterschool homework support for youth in Westbrook schools. Programs and staff have expanded dramatically since they moved into a new building near Westbrook’s Rock Row in 2021, and ICC continues to serve as a reliable and responsive resource for immigrant, refugee, and asylum‑seeking families in Southern Maine. ICC’s report from their most recent grant, $25,000 for general operations in 2025-26, featured programs that brought youth together around shared interests and took youth out into the community to learn new skills and make new connections.
ICC’s signature program, Power School, served 90 students in grades 5-8. Along with academic support, ICC hosts STEAM clubs whose themes change each year based on students’ interests. This past year, clubs included Engineering, Graphic Novels, Song Writing, Dungeons and Dragons, Ecology, and Outer Space among others. Clubs are student-driven and hands-on which keeps participating youth engaged and excited about learning long after the school day has ended. Field trips to Mackworth Island, the Presumpscot River, and Gilsland Farm, encourages spending time outdoors and away from screens. Through partnership with the Westbrook Recreation Center, all 90 Power School students received free swimming lessons. By the end of the program, 100 percent of participants had advanced their swimming skills, and families reported feeling more comfortable bringing their children to local beaches and lakes. In March, ICC families attended the Maine Science Festival in Bangor, which was a chance for families to connect outside of daily routines and see a different part of the state.
Shark Tank Entrepreneurship Club is one of ICC’s most exciting new programs. Twenty-five ICC middle school students developed business ideas ranging from food businesses to tech innovations. The culminating Shark Tank Pitch Night drew one of ICC’s largest crowds for a program, with more than 100 attendees cheering for students as they presented their businesses ideas. After the pitch night, students visited the City of Westbrook to learn the steps to start and register a business in their town.
ICC launched its first Career Week, which involved more than 40 students in site visits to schools and businesses like the restaurant Twelve, the University of Southern Maine, Scarborough Parks and Recreation, and cPort Bank. Students prepared questions, practiced professional communication, and were introduced to workplace settings. This year ICC will add a High School Ambassador Program to create paid leadership opportunities for Power School alumni. Entrepreneurship and career readiness have become an integral part of ICC’s youth programming.
Along with educational offerings for youth, ICC provides programs for adults to help families navigate language barriers and unfamiliar systems. ICC offers multi‑level English classes, financial and digital literacy workshops, health navigation support, and opportunities for gatherings and walking groups for seniors.
During the peak of ICE operations, ICC shifted quickly to meet urgent needs. In a typical year, ICC is a distribution site for more than 8,000 pounds of healthy, culturally appropriate food through a partnership with The Locker Project. During the ICE crisis, ICC staff delivered weekly groceries to more than 40 families who were afraid to travel. An Emergency Preparedness Fair provided legal and mental health support to more than 60 attendees. ICC also supported a family whose father had been deported, providing food deliveries, emotional support, and connections to legal and mental health resources.
Looking ahead, ICC plans to expand Career Week into Career Month, deepen mental health support through a new social work internship with the University of New England, and launch free swim lessons for adults. The organization is formalizing career readiness as a core component of Power School, redesigning senior citizen engagement with new leadership, and building a donor development program to support long‑term sustainability. ICC remains focused on providing consistent, culturally responsive programming that helps New Mainers build stability, confidence, and community in Maine.
Food For All Services (FFA) began as the African Mobile Market in 2019 to deliver culturally familiar foods to newly arrived asylum seekers across southern Maine. In 2022, FFA founder Khadija Ahmed and her husband Charlie Williams transformed the mobile market’s storage building into an African Market in Portland’s Back Cove neighborhood. The market was a traditional market with items for sale, but customers could also take items free of charge if needed, no questions asked. Seeing the growing need, Khadija and Charlie rallied the community and funders to establish open new headquarters in downtown Portland which includes a large food bank and delivery program. SLCF’s first grant ($15,000) to FFA supported new site.
FFA’s Nyumbani Community Pantry is open five days a week and serves thousands of community members, many visiting weekly or twice per week. Fresh produce, dry goods, and hygiene items are supplied weekly with donations and contributions from local stores such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods as well as programs like Farms for Food Equity. Pantry shelves are stocked with culturally familiar items such as pondu, yuca, fufu, and halal meats. The pantry uses a “shopping model” where consumers choose what they need rather than receiving a box or bag of pre-selected goods. This helps reduce waste, as visitors to the pantry take what they know they will use in recipes their family enjoys.
Khadija Ahmed, FFA’s founder, is at the center of FFA’s community work. Fluent in French, Lingala, Swahili, and English, Khadija works for Good Shepherd Food Bank as an Equity and Impact Manager and serves on the boards of Full Plates Full Potential, Cultivating Community, and Black Owned Maine (all SLCF grantees). She was instrumental in launching the Halal School Meals program in local schools that is an outgrowth of the Food Fuels Learning collaboration in Greater Portland. Khadija and her husband were quick to step in when ICE launched “Operation Catch of the Day” in January. Drawing on a vast community network, Khadija quickly recruited dozens of new volunteers to help box and deliver food to 400 families who did not feel safe coming to the food pantry. FFA also created a system where social workers and case managers could “shop” at the pantry using their clients’ grocery lists. Full Plates Full Potential worked with Food For All Services to acquire food, especially culturally appropriate food. FFA also extended open hours and coordinated volunteers to deliver food to families who were afraid to leave home.
A first-time grantee in 2025, Food For All Services is playing a critical role in fighting food insecurity in Greater Portland. They are a strong example of how a small organization, with well-connected, dedicated, entrepreneurial leaders, can use a $15,000 SLCF grant to great impact.
Telling Room in Portland has been a stand-out in the nonprofit community since three prominent Maine-based writers founded the organization 20 years ago. Susan Conley, Sarah Corbett, and Michael Paterniti recognized the richness of Portland’s writing community and the potential for great stories to come from an increasingly diverse population of Portland youth. The Sam L. Cohen Foundation was one of Telling Room’s earliest foundation supporters with a 2007 grant of $7,500, and since then SLCF has provided consistent support for their creative writing programs for young people.
Telling Room has grown programs at their homebase in the Old Port, where they saw a 42% increase in youth participation last year. Their expansion into York County includes programs at elementary, middle, and high schools, including a collaboration at York High School where tenth graders dive into a redesigned poetry curriculum centered on sensory writing and revision. The program culminated with a visit from Maine poet Gibson Fay LeBlanc that resonated especially with student athletes.
Telling Room makes sure to share young authors’ work in the community. BIG NIGHT, an annual celebration of young authors, brings together book signings, activities, awards, and readings in a festive setting. This year the event featured readings from the newest anthology, When Fish Walk. Telling Room students were honored at the Maine Literary Awards as well, with top honors across multiple categories. Students from Young Writers & Leaders and Second Story shared their work at Mayo Street Arts, while the Young Emerging Authors cohort read original works at area libraries. Telling Room celebrated their twentieth anniversary with the publication, It Rains Diamonds on Neptune, a cross generational anthology pairing youth voices with established Maine authors. In local media, Telling Room writers were featured on Maine Public Radio’s Poems from Here and in the Portland Press Herald’s Deep Water series, and alum Sophia Tyutyunnyk appeared on Maine Calling to discuss her memoir and Maine’s Ukrainian community. Their work even caught regional attention, including a feature in Yankee Magazine.
Telling Room has found a winning combination of on-site programming at their Portland studios, outreach to classrooms, and public events celebrating young authors. Support from the community, SLCF and other area foundations has helped them become a creative hub for young writers in southern Maine.
In June 2024, the Foundation made a $10,000 grant to support Maine Federation of Farmers Market’s (MFFM) efforts to expand food access programs in southern Maine. The grant helped bring fresh, local produce to more residents in York and Cumberland counties through two flagship initiatives: Maine Harvest Bucks and the Market-Wide Maine Senior FarmShare Program.
Maine Harvest Bucks is a nutrition incentive initiative that enhances food access for SNAP/EBT (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefits Transfer) users across the state. SNAP/EBT users earn bonus “Harvest Bucks” when they shop at participating farmers’ markets, farm stands, and CSAs. For every $2 of SNAP benefits used at a farmers market, users receive an additional $1 in Harvest Bucks to spend on SNAP eligible items (fruits and vegetables, eggs, meat and poultry, jams, etc. In York and Cumberland counties, markets in Portland, Saco, Sanford, Biddeford, and Kennebunk saw the biggest growth in participation. In 2024, there were 600 total SNAP households including 120 new SNAP households participating, which is a sharp increase over the prior year where 483 households participated. This translates into thousands of dollars in incentives distributed which not only helps low-income families stretch their food budgets for healthy food but also boosts direct sales for farmers, reinforcing the local food economy by increasing direct-to-consumer sales.
The SLCF grant also supported expanding MFFM’s Senior FarmShare program. Through a partnership with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, MFFM qualifying seniors receive $50 in vouchers annually to spend on produce, herbs, and honey at their local farmers’ market. Seniors enroll at market info booths and spend their share across multiple vendors, offering greater flexibility and choice. In 2024-2025, 19 farmers markets joined the program, including Portland, South Portland, Sanford, Biddeford, Bridgton, and Steep Falls. Of the 382 seniors enrolled in Senior FarmShare in 2024, 190 were new to farmers markets and 60 seniors also enrolled in Maine Harvest Bucks to use throughout the season. Farmers benefit from full retail reimbursement, while seniors enjoy simple, affordable access to fresh, local food.
As SNAP benefits and other food programs suffer funding cuts, MFFM is advocating for programs that support low-income Mainers and Maine farmers. MFFM is an active advocate in Augusta alongside other food justice and agriculture nonprofits. Also, MFFM and another SLCF grantee, Full Plates Full Potential, partnered on a series of “Speak Up For SNAP” events at local farmers markets which included gathering testimony from SNAP participants to help educate Maine’s congressional delegation.
Together, MFFM programs deepen community connections, improve food security, and strengthen the agricultural landscape in southern Maine. MFFM’s work ensures that farmers markets remain inclusive, vibrant hubs for health and sustainable agriculture.
Maine Council on Aging (MCOA), a 2024 Sam L. Cohen Foundation grantee, was recognized by the National Council on Aging with the organization’s 2025 Innovator Award. The award honors organizations that create innovative solutions to improve the health and economic security of older people. MCOA received the award at NCOA’s Age+Action Conference in May, along with other 2025 Trailblazers in Aging award winners including the Partners in Care Foundation of Los Angeles, Clayton County Georgia Senior Services, and ATT. NCOA recognized MCOA for leading the nation’s first statewide movement to end ageism, working to build a robust essential care workforce, and partnering with Hannaford Supermarkets to improve systems that ensure older Mainers have access to food and social connection. MCOA was specifically honored for their advocacy that resulted in 45,000 older Mainers having access to a benefit that will save them an average of $7,300 a year in Medicare costs. In 2024, due in part to MCOA’s advocacy efforts, the Maine Legislature passed a bill to raise the income eligibility threshold for seniors to receive financial assistance through the Maine Medicare Savings Program (MSP). In fall 2024, the Foundation awarded a $10,000 grant to MCOA to support outreach in Cumberland and York counties to ensure that older Mainers who were newly eligible for MSP were aware of this benefit and could easily enroll. The grant helped MCOA’s work with community organizations that serve low-income seniors, especially in Biddeford and surrounding towns. It is this effort by MCOA, with support from SLCF, that attracted this national recognition. The Maine Council on Aging is a multi-disciplinary network of more than 140 organizations, businesses, municipalities, and older Mainers working to create a new narrative about aging and older people in Maine with the goal of building local, statewide, and national support for the systemic changes needed to support Maine seniors.
In 2015, two women co-founded In Her Presence (IHP) with a goal to ensure that Maine’s economic agenda included aspirations and needs of immigrant women. Claudette Ndayininahaze and Abusama “Micky” Bondo initially became friends through their shared experience of immigrating to the United States. Micky came to the US from the DR Congo in 1996. In the Congo and in Belgium, she earned advanced degrees in biochemistry with a specialty in sickle cell research. In 2014, Claudette came to the US from Burundi, where she had been the National Sales Manager for Heineken Corp. and had served as the President of the Board of the national Girl Scouts Association. At first, IHP was a small gathering of women at Portland Parkside Neighborhood Center focusing on wellness and stress reduction. Today IHP is a multi-pronged effort to support immigrant women through English-language conversation classes, health advocacy courses, and career planning assistance. In 2023, they launched a new initiative to support pregnant women experiencing homelessness. Along with their growing impact, IHP’s visibility and recognition in the community has also increased. Co-founder, Claudette Ndayininahaze was named one of Maine Biz Magazine’s 2025 Business Leaders of the Year. IHP’s business consulting clients include Allagash Brewing Co., Hannaford Supermarkets, and Northern Light Health.
One of their largest community investments is the Frances Warde House, a home for pregnant immigrant women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. To address an urgent need for housing homeless pregnant women, the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future and Community Housing of Maine provided funding for the building and grounds, and the John T. Gorman Foundation provided funding for services. IHP began accepting tenants in June of 2023. IHP employees provide critical social-emotional support for residents, including cultural doula services, and connect them to essential services. IHP staff also manage all daily operations of the facility, workforce development opportunities, access to food and clothing, cultural integration programming, transportation to medical appointments, and much more. Each resident has supported access to medical care from the Frances Warde House program director who is an RN, and at Mercy Hospital and Maine Medical Center. The transitional house shelters up to 15 adults, 15 infants, and 10 children. IHP and the Frances Warde House will be honored by the Maine Women’s Project at an event at the Roux Institute in early April.
Ten years after Claudette and Micky came together to found In Her Presence, the organization celebrated its anniversary with a sold-out gala in Portland. The evening included a performance by the Batimbo United Burundi Drummers, several speakers including Claudette Ndayininahaze, IHP Board Chair Lucky Hollander, and several participants in IHP programs, and a silent auction. More than 400 people attended the event which raised more than $130,000 for In Her Presence programs. The Sam L. Cohen Foundation was an early investor in In Her Presence programs with a first-time grant of $10,000 awarded in 2019. Since then, the Foundation has supported IHP with three more grants, each grant increasing to match the scale of IHP’s growing impact. In 2024, IHP served more than 3,000 people from 19 different countries while staying true to the original goal set by its two co-founders a decade ago.
With a mission to foster economic development and improve downtown, Heart of Biddeford’s small, busy staff supports existing businesses, attracts new businesses, and organizes events to bring people together and make Main Street a vibrant community asset. The Foundation has recognized their consistent good work with regular support since 2015, including a $15,000 grant for operations in 2024. With support from SLCF, HOB was able to add an assistant director to support long-time executive director, Delilah Poupore. Added staff allowed HOB to expand offerings, create a new online hub for area entrepreneurs, launch a podcast, host a pitch contest to connect start-ups with investors, and host the Main Downtown Center state conference.
The new BizHub website offers one-stop shopping for businesses and entrepreneurs with connections to a range of resources including mentors, investors, trade workers, accountants, and real estate brokers. Entrepreneurs can also listen to podcasts featuring guests from SCORE Maine, Katie Pinard and Michael Macomber who opened the popular Elements Bookstore and Café on Main St. 11 years ago, and other business leaders. In addition to economic development, HOB hosted community events that drew more than 15,000 attendees to downtown. Events like WinterFest, Restaurant Week, an expanded Pride Month, Music in the Park, and Maine Craft Weekend contribute to the vitality of downtown. At the same time, HOB is heavily involved with Biddeford’s efforts to combat the homelessness crisis. HOB had a leadership role on the city’s homelessness task force. When the city cleared the encampments in Biddeford’s Mechanic’s Park, HOB led the community cleanup there so that downtown neighbors could return to using the park safely.
In 2024, HOB partnered with the University of New England and the city and applied for a $20 million Climate Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. If awarded in 2025, HOB will host 12 family-friendly block parties to educate downtown neighbors about resources like free e-bikes, public transportation, heat pumps, and sustainable business practices. Also in 2025, HOB will implement a Maine Downtown Center grant to support the Multicultural Student Union at Biddeford High School to develop a tourism-focused initiative. While HOB is known as a great local resource, the organization attracts national attention as well. In 2016 and again in 2022, Heart of Biddeford (HOB) was one of three organizations across the country recognized with a Great American Main Street Award from Main Street America. A team of national experts look for model programs, and HOB was a standout for its comprehensive, preservation-based approach to downtown revitalization. In June 2024, HOB held a 20th anniversary party on Main Street celebrating two decades of growth and community building.