Sen. Talbot Ross celebrates Community Action Grants awarded to Portland

Posted: May 20, 2025 | Senator Talbot Ross

The funds awarded will support storm recovery and resilience projects that protect Maine’s cities and towns protect people, businesses and infrastructure

AUGUSTA — Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, is pleased to announce that the City of Portland and the Island Institute are the recipients of Community Action Grant awards from the Community Resilience Partnership. The partnership is administered by the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future to help Maine communities reduce emissions and prepare for the effects of extreme weather events brought on by climate change.

The grant recipients, amounts and projects are:

  • Portland and South Portland – $180,000 – Funding for the Risk-Based Asset Management Tool Project, part of the two cities’ joint “One Climate Future” plan
  • Island Institute – $62,500 – Funding to conduct Community Vulnerability Assessments in Portland, as well as on Chebague Island, the Cranberry Isles, Frenchboro and Swan’s Island

“Portland’s peninsula and island communities are quite literally on the front lines of climate change,” said Sen. Talbot Ross. “As a statewide economic hub and a home to many who are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change, we must take action to prepare Portland for days of extreme weather yet to come. These grants mark a meaningful step forward for our city’s future.”

Funding for the grants came from several sources, including measures passed by the Maine Legislature with support from Sen. Talbot Ross during her tenure as Speaker of the House:

  • The Supplemental Budget that was passed by the Legislature in 2024 to increase community resilience and preparedness in the wake of the December 2023 and January 2024 storms;
  • Funds from the biennial budget authorized by the Legislature in 2023; and
  • A federal grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The grants in District 28 are part of a historic $8 million in Community Resilience Partnership grant funding announced by Governor Janet Mills on May 1, 2025. This round of funding will support projects in 166 communities across Maine. For a full list of grant awardees, click here.

Sen. Talbot Ross is serving her first term in the Maine Senate, representing part of Portland and part of Long Island. She serves as the Senate Chair of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee and sits on the Judiciary Committee.