Community Action Grants

The Community Resilience Partnership Service Provider Grant Program is administered by the Maine Office of Community Affairs through its Community Resilience Partnership initiative. This program is designed to support climate action across Maine by funding service provider organizations that assist local communities in planning, assessing, and implementing resilience strategies. The Partnership focuses on helping municipalities, Tribal Governments, plantations, townships, and unorganized territories reduce energy use, transition to clean energy, and improve resilience to climate-related impacts such as flooding, extreme temperatures, and public health risks. The Service Provider Grants are a key mechanism for enabling technical expertise and coordinated support to reach multiple communities at once. The program offers two distinct funding tracks. Track 1 supports service providers in assisting up to five communities with completing enrollment requirements for the Community Resilience Partnership and preparing to apply for additional funding opportunities such as Community Action Grants. Track 2 supports service providers in guiding communities through the completion of vulnerability assessments that identify climate risks to infrastructure, populations, and local assets, and generate actionable recommendations. Both tracks emphasize building capacity at the community level and positioning communities to pursue and implement priority climate and energy projects. Funding is structured to provide up to fifteen thousand dollars per community included in a service provider’s application group, with a total program allocation of approximately six hundred thousand dollars for the grant round. Funds may be used for eligible project-related expenses such as personnel, contractual services, travel, supplies, indirect costs, and meeting-related expenses. However, funds cannot be used for construction, computer equipment, permit fees, or unrelated staffing costs. A fifteen percent cost share is required for all awards, and in-kind contributions are permitted, provided they meet eligibility requirements and are incurred during the grant period. Eligible applicants include a wide range of organizations capable of delivering technical assistance and coordination services. These include regional planning organizations, councils of governments, regional economic development organizations, county governments, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, cooperative extension programs, and for-profit enterprises. Municipalities themselves may also apply if they demonstrate the capacity to support other communities. Applicants must recruit up to five communities per application and provide letters of support from each participating community, confirming their commitment to the program activities. The application process requires submission through the Maine Office of Community Affairs grants portal using the Submittable platform. Applicants must provide a comprehensive application package that includes general organizational information, documentation of eligibility, demonstration of expertise and experience, a detailed scope of work aligned with program objectives, a project timeline, and a budget narrative with supporting worksheet. Letters of support from participating communities and any relevant partners must also be included. Applications are evaluated based on eligibility, community characteristics, organizational capacity, scope of work, and budget quality, with a total scoring framework of one hundred five points. The program operates on a quarterly submission and review cycle, allowing applications to be submitted on a rolling basis but evaluated at defined deadlines throughout the year. Key deadlines include May fifteenth, August fourteenth, November thirteenth, and March fifteenth, each at five p.m. Eastern Time. Applications submitted after a deadline are reviewed in the next cycle. Award decisions are typically communicated approximately one month after each review period, and funded projects must be completed within twelve months for Track 1 or eighteen months for Track 2, with a maximum contract duration of twenty four months. Program oversight includes ongoing reporting and accountability requirements. Awardees must submit quarterly progress reports within fifteen days of the end of each quarter, as well as a final report within thirty days of project completion. Additionally, service providers are expected to produce deliverables such as vulnerability assessment reports or enrollment documentation, and a case study summarizing lessons learned. All communications regarding the program and application process are directed to the designated program contact at the Maine Office of Community Affairs, ensuring applicants have access to guidance and clarification throughout the process.

Ensure strong demonstration of capacity and expertise; provide detailed and realistic scope of work aligned with program outcomes; prioritize community engagement and inclusion of vulnerable populations; include complete and well supported budget justification