GrowSmart Maine Community Programs Update

Building Community Strength: A Training Program for Community-Driven Development Solutions

The Building Community Strength (BCS) program is a community planning capacity-building initiative focused on empowering communities in rural Maine. Many communities lack the planning capacity and resources to address local challenges effectively. The BCS program aims to bridge this gap by providing training and technical assistance to develop and implement local plans that address critical issues like resilience, economic development, affordable housing, and food and farm viability.

The program utilizes a "train-the-trainer" model, where community members from ten recipient towns participate in workshops and receive guidance from a team comprising experienced planners from Sunrise County Economic Council, The Musson Group, North Star Planning, and Eastern Maine Development Corporation. GrowSmart Maine manages the program and facilitates connections between these communities and resource organizations, and funding opportunities.

GrowSmart Maine has actively pursued various funding avenues to support BCS communities, including applications to the Northern Border Regional Commission’s Catalyst Program and USDA's Community Facilities programs. Their efforts have resulted in successes such as securing USDA Community Facilities Disaster Program funding for the Town of Mexico to relocate its fire station and assisting towns with enrollment in the GOPIF Community Resilience Program. This proactive approach to identifying and pursuing funding opportunities is a crucial aspect of the BCS program's commitment to enabling communities to achieve their long-term goals.

Community Keystones: Identification and Siting of Community Facilities in Rural Towns

The Community Keystones project is a two-year program designed to assist rural communities with the strategic development and funding of essential community facilities. This initiative, developed in response to the needs of communities participating in GrowSmart Maine’s Building Community Strength program, addresses the challenges rural communities face, including housing scarcity and the impact of extreme weather events.

The program's primary goal is to empower rural communities to strategically site, develop sound Community Facilities Project Concepts through equitable and inclusive public processes. The project involves training community leaders, conducting community workshops, and developing town-specific Community Facility Siting Guidelines. It also includes technical assistance for project concept development, funding proposal preparation, and the creation of a case study to share the program's outcomes and best practices.

The program's focus on community engagement and strategic planning aims to not only address the immediate needs of the participating communities but also to foster long-term prosperity and sustainability. GrowSmart Maine is piloting the project in cooperation with the Town of Houlton.

Housing Forward Communities: Empowering Communities to Solve Housing Challenges

Maine faces a significant housing challenge, particularly when it comes to workforce housing. With projections indicating a substantial need for new homes in the coming years, attracting and retaining the workforce crucial for our local economy is increasingly difficult. At the same time, well-intentioned housing proposals often face local resistance, highlighting the urgent need for proactive community engagement to build understanding and consensus around housing solutions that work for everyone. The Housing Forward Communities program seeks to tackle this challenge head-on.

This program seeks to proactively engage communities before specific housing proposals are on the table and thereby shift the conversation from a “yes / no” proposition to proactive problem-solving and consensus-building. Through facilitated discussions, local action committees, and regional collaboration, this initiative aims to equip communities with the knowledge and resources to create housing that meets their specific needs and strengthens the region. In short, "Housing Forward Communities" seeks to empower local communities to become agents of change in addressing their own housing needs. The program is set to commence in July and focus on communities in Franklin County.