We live, work, and play in downtown Lewiston. We believe in a bright future as we all work to nurture a healthy neighborhood that offers:
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
This June, the Healthy Neighborhoods Network held our annual Shared Gifting session and moved forward with funding 19 exciting community projects around our theme of “Community Connections: Rebuilding Community as we Emerge from Covid-19. Click to see all of our funded projects for 2022!
Preview photo (c) 2022 Russ Dillingham, Sun Journal. All rights reserved.
Meet the 5 incoming members of our Board of Directors!
Community-Focused Architecture considers the labor and materials used in a project as a fundamental part of its design, and prioritizes hiring local workers and using locally-sourced materials so that the project as a whole has the greatest possible local impact. How could this approach help Lewiston get the most out of the $30 million Choice Neighborhoods grant?
After years of hard work and the contributions of over 400 people who live, work, and play in the Tree Streets, Lewiston secured $30 million in funding from HUD to bring the Transformation Plan to life.
Crystal from Presente! Maine shares how their Food Brigade fed over 2,000 people, including 600 in Lewiston, through their Food Brigade, supported in part by a Healthy Neighborhoods Mini-Grant.
Bridgette Bartlett from St. Mary's Nutrition Center's Lots to Garden program shares how they developed gardener safety kits and hand-washing stations to keep their community gardens open during the pandemic with help from a Mini-Grant from Healthy Neighborhoods.
Billie from the Agora Grand shares how Mini-Grant funding helped them weather COVID, capture the elopement market, and keep this iconic Lewiston institution open.
Victoria from Safe Voices shares how they navigated a significant increase in call volume to their 24-hour helpline during COVID-19 with the help of a Healthy Neighborhoods Mini-Grant.
Tri-County Mental Health Services received a Mini-Grant in 2020 to connect residents of Lewiston’s emergency homeless shelter to telehealth counseling services during COVID-19.
Amy Sanchez lives in the heart of Lewiston’s Tree Streets neighborhood and received a Mini-Grant to sew and distribute 750 high quality masks to at-risk neighbors.
Tree Streets neighbors have been organizing and voicing their commitment to a better neighborhood since 2004. The Visible Community stopped a top-down municipal plan that would have destroyed over 850 homes, and spent years creating the grassroots “People’s Downtown Master Plan”, which was adopted by the City Council in 2008. Relationships, trust, and commitment continued to build, and in 2013 a group of neighbors and stakeholders organized around improving the health of the community.
This group evolved into Healthy Neighborhoods. We build and nurture diverse partnerships among individuals, non-profit organizations, local businesses, and community stakeholders. We count on our network to keep resident voice front and center, and adjust priorities to meet current needs in our community.
Our efforts focus on creating a safe, inclusive, welcoming, and thriving neighborhood for all.
We strive to address root causes of poverty, discrimination, and the disparities that result from social inequity.
Our actions try to speak louder than words, and in ways that are valued and understood across all languages and cultures.
2013
Broad community engagement begins to determine how to improve the health of our urban core.
“Healthy Neighborhoods” is adopted as the name of the coalition, and work begins on a long term plan to foster community engagement and deliver tangible results.
From community gardens, to youth leadership development, to support for survivors of trauma, these grants made our neighborhood better.
Grantees created and enhanced public spaces on Blake, Bartlett, and Pine streets, added amenities like bike racks and trees, engaged teens in videography & leadership development, and offered practical educational workshops.
Over 400 residents came out to dozens of pop-up events to give honest, constructive feedback to this critical, resident-led planning process.
The Trash Amnesty event kicks off an incredible summer of projects - lawn care, window boxes, public art, street banners, and much more.
The network streamlined the application and award process, reached out to small, local organizations, and awarded 19 grants of $2500 for maximum reach.
Watch the video summary of the plan, narrated by neighborhood residents in 4 languages.
Stay tuned for details on how to participate.
