PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 28, 2025
Nonprofit community organizations and research facilities across the state have seen federal grants canceled and are now facing a bigger challenge: how to come up with a large chunk of money that had previously seemed guaranteed. They’re also navigating an uncertain future and how to apply for new funding in the face of a slew of executive orders. The cancellation of federal grants has come fast and furious for Maine nonprofits, the vast majority of which are small organizations without deep pockets to cover the losses. “It’s happening in an arbitrary, capricious and likely unlawful way,” said Jennifer Hutchins, executive director of the Maine Association of Nonprofits. At the Shaw Institute in Blue Hill, executive director Charles Rolsky is unsure about the money he expects to receive through a $150,000 grant from NOAA to study the impact of PFAS on seals over a 30-year period.