Bangor gives another $1.4 million in COVID relief funding
Bangor gave away another $1.4 million in pandemic relief funding to three local organizations that will use the money to create a Wabanaki youth center, fund renovations to a historic child care center and potentially create a resource hub for local nonprofits.
The three awards, which Bangor city councilors approved during a workshop on Tuesday, are the latest wave of funding to be subtracted from the $20.5 million the city received from the American Rescue Plan Act, which Congress passed in 2021.
Councilors have spent the summer considering the 60 requests for a piece of the lump sum after sitting on the money, which must be allocated by the end of 2024, for two years.
Prior to Tuesday’s decisions, the city had $6.13 million in relief funding left to spend.
The largest award city councilors approved Tuesday was a $648,000 grant to Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness to fund a youth cultural center at 16 Central St.
The youth center, which will be open to all Bangor families, will host after school and summer camp programs, offer a commercial kitchen and cafe, and have activity areas for children, including a bouldering wall and youth art gallery, among other things.
The organization knows of at least 20 indigenous youth in the Bangor area that would use the space in the beginning, and it hopes to expand to serve at least 50 children within the first year.
Councilors also unanimously approved giving $350,748 in pandemic relief funding to the Bangor Children’s Home, also known as the Hilltop School. The award will allow the child care center to renovate the interior and facade of its historic building on Ohio Street, which opened in 1869.
Finally, the council voted to give $400,000 to Heart of Maine United Way, contingent on the county supplementing the rest of the organization’s original $800,000 ask.
The request, if filled, will fund the creation of a physical hub that will offer in-person and virtual coaching, mentoring and networking for local nonprofits. The goal of the initiative is to facilitate collaboration between social service providers and nonprofits in the Bangor region.
While councilors approved the latest wave of awards on Tuesday, the grants will be officially rubber stamped during an upcoming city council meeting.