Grants to “Green” Maine Downtowns
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
ELLSWORTH, Maine - Some downtown areas around Maine are going to get "greener," thanks to a grant from an organization in Atlanta that is aimed at making historic downtown buildings in which nonprofit groups work more energy-efficient.
The "Grants to Green" project awarded $1.2 million from The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta to the Maine Community Foundation.
"It helps nonprofits reduce cost of operating these buildings, so they can devote those resources to programs and services that are at the core of their missions," said Peter Taylor, vice president for programs at the Maine Community Foundation, one of just two community foundations in the nation chosen to replicate the program first created by the Atlanta group.
In Atlanta, Tyronda Minter, that foundation's director of regional impact, said the idea has worked well in Georgia, where it began.
"What we're able to offer is a model and a template for how we were able to make this impact in Atlanta," she said. "But what the Maine Community Foundation had to do was to look at the model and see how they would replicate it in their own jurisdiction."
Taylor said they'll be working with Efficiency Maine, an organization that will guide the energy audit process and help decide what steps to take.
"Then it also provides matching grant support for those nonprofits to make efficiency investments, to move on those recommendations, to make these buildings more cost-effective, but also sustainable and have greater use for the downtowns that they serve," Taylor said.
Other organizations involved include Maine Downtown Center, Maine Preservation, Maine Historic Preservation Commission and Coastal Enterprises Inc.
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