Brunswick nonprofits named finalists for Mainebiz community impact awards

Brunswick and Topsham nonprofits are drawing statewide notice for meeting two of the Midcoast’s most visible needs: safer access to the outdoors and more shelter for people without housing. Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and Queerly ME were named finalists for Nonprofit Collaboration of the Year, while Tedford Housing in Brunswick was selected for Campaign Excellence in Mainebiz’s inaugural Community Impact Awards.

The awards, presented with the Maine Association of Nonprofits, are meant to spotlight organizations and leaders making measurable differences in Maine communities. Nominations opened Jan. 26 and closed April 26 at 11:59 p.m. Finalists will be recognized at a luncheon June 10 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland, and they will also be featured in the June 15 issue of Mainebiz.

For Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and Queerly ME, the recognition centers on a collaboration that began in 2022: Trail Mixers, outdoor gatherings intended to make land and community feel more welcoming to LGBTQIA+ Mainers. Queerly ME says hundreds of LGBTQIA+ community members have taken part in the walks in Brunswick-Topsham area properties, and that the model has since grown into other partnerships across Maine. The land trust serves Brunswick, Topsham and Bowdoin, and its work on local trails and conserved land gives the program a rooted place in the southern Midcoast.

Queerly ME says it is the only LGBTQIA+ led nonprofit offering in-person programs in all 16 Maine counties each year. It hosts about three outdoor events a month and says it has reached 11 of Maine’s 16 counties. That scale helps explain why a Brunswick-area partnership landed in a statewide competition: the collaboration reflects a wider effort to make Maine’s outdoor spaces feel safer and more inclusive, not just in one town but across the state.

Tedford Housing’s finalist spot points to another urgent Midcoast problem. Tedford has long focused on helping people move from homelessness to home, and its Brunswick shelter campaign was previously reported as an $8.8 million effort. At one point, the campaign was 97% fulfilled with 459 donors. Tedford had said its former setup could serve just 16 adults and six families at a time and that it turned away 463 adults and 139 families in 2023. The new Brunswick shelter opened with space for 24 adults and 10 families, expanding capacity by about 60 percent and bringing adult and family services under one roof.

The finalist slate also includes Healthy Kids, Community Concepts, Maine Children’s Trust, Franklin County Children’s Task Force, Kennebec Valley Community Action Program, Portland Gear Hub and United Recovery Fund in the collaboration category. For Sagadahoc County readers, the Brunswick finalists show how local nonprofits are being recognized not just for good intentions, but for concrete models that expand access, respond to housing pressure and build partnerships that reach well beyond one town line.