Statement of Need

as told by Cadeau A.

#1) Rent Relief: many people are struggling right now to pay rent to house their families.
#2) Utilities: electricity, water, heat, phone bill, Wi-Fi
#3) Groceries: especially from culturally relevant markets and local stores: food and non-food items. 
#4) Transportation: bus passes and gas cards.

Gateway has three Community Health Outreach Workers that work between the LLC side and the non-profit side to provide wraparound services for community members.

They spend a lot of time connecting community members with various existing public and non-profit services, and they have identified the need for Gateway to have a fund of money set aside for them to help folks with emergent needs.

We are stepping up and fund raising to provide this mutual aid fund, recognizing that many other available resources are part of restrictive systems that pose many barriers to access for the Maine refugee, immigrant, and asylee/asylum-seeking communities.

Our community continues to struggle through this pandemic.

In addition to accepting money, we are also accepting donations of facemasks (especially those that tie in the back, as they are more user friendly for people wearing hijabs!) and hand sanitizer, which you can drop off at either the Portland or Lewiston community hubs.

Donate!