CUMBERLAND COUNTY (February 3, 2023) — Heating assistance is a fundamental element of health, well-being, self-sufficiency, and economic mobility. Families struggling due to hardships caused by COVID-19 are at greater risk for energy insecurity. With more than 60 percent of Maine homes reliant on heating oil, compared to 4 percent nationally and between 24-42 percent elsewhere in New England, Maine is the most heating oil-dependent state in the country. 

Cumberland County recognizes these factors are directly contributing to a grim winter forecast for low-income families who face impossible choices among essential needs such as food, heat, and medicine. To address these and other negative economic impacts of the pandemic on households in our community Cumberland County created the Keeping Cumberland County Warm Program. 

The County will rely on the general assistance department of each participating municipality to assist with program administration. Cumberland County residents will meet with local General Assistance administrators to determine income eligibility for the Keeping Cumberland County Warm Program.

Program Eligibility:

To be eligible for Keeping Cumberland County Warm, you must be a resident of Cumberland County, Maine and you must need financial assistance with home energy costs. Funding is to support heating assistance in the form of oil, wood, wood pellets, Kerosene, and propane. The County will support funding sources that include Electric or Natural gas, however, the bill needs to clearly outline the costs increase from what is normal usage vs winter time increases. So it is clear the funds are specifically targeting heating costs only. To be eligible, you must have an annual household income (before taxes) that is below the income guidelines outlined in the chart posted on cumberlandcounty.org

Eligible activities are limited to heating assistance. 

Eligible expenses for heating assistance include:

• Oil

• Wood

• Propane

• Natural Gas

• Electricity

• kerosene

• Wood Pellets

All utility bills provided must clearly outline the cost increase specific to wintertime heating vs. normal usage. It needs to be clear the funds are specifically targeting heating costs only. GA will work with the vendors to provide direct payment on behalf of the client. Vendors should be reputable and reasonable in cost when compared to the current market rate pricing. Under no circumstances will cash payments be provided to clients or vendors.

Ineligible Expenses

Ineligible expenses are items that are not heating assistance. Expenses must follow the outlined distribution of funds requirements. Examples of ineligible expenses include:

• Cash payments

• Rental Assistance

• Using County funds to supplement GA expenses.

• Food assistance

• All other expenses not related to heating assistance

• Surplus of supply, request must be reasonably proportional to need. For example, a client may not request 15 tons of wood pellets to create a stockpile.

Gorham is participating in this program (some towns due to capacity restraints are not able to offer the program at this time). Cumberland County is the fiscal agent awarding funds to participating local municipalities. Keeping Cumberland County Warm is a grant program for municipalities to access. Only those Cumberland County municipalities that chose to participate in the program receive funding. The County depends on the general assistance department of each participating municipality to assist with program administration.

Gorham’s information: Contact Rene Daniel at rjdaniel@windhammaine.us or 207-892-1906

GORHAM, ME (February 3, 2023) — Maine Micro Artisans is proud to present a handmade Valentine’s Day! We’re busy preparing the shop to be open February 11th, 12th and 13th.

We’ll be shining the artisan spotlight on Lots O’ Dots, We Knit – Crochet Too, Ivy Moon Botanicals, Nature Creations by Tammy Mullen and Bar Soap Company.

Come shop with us! 

Maine Micro Artisans is located at 18 South Street, Gorham.

GORHAM, ME (January 27, 2022) – The following is an excerpt from Gorham School Superintendent Heather Perry. The full update can be read at gorhamschools.org

PLANS FOR POSSIBLE REMOTE LEARNING SNOW DAYS

Earlier on in the fall I had talked about snow days and our plans for the use of snow days for the year.  In those earlier communications I had talked about the “what if’s” that MAY occur if we use all five of our planned snow days in the calendar.  At the time, it was still beautiful fall weather in Maine so I’m not sure everyone really “picked up what I was putting down” sort to speak.  Recent weather has likely now brought the conversation more fully to the front of our minds!

We’ve now used 3 of our 5 snow days with just two left and we still have a ways to go this winter before we are out of the woods.  All that being said, I thought it was time to REALLY emphasize what remote learning snow days might look like in Gorham since there is a pretty good chance we might have to use one or two yet this year.

To be clear, we will continue to use traditional snow days for two more days.  We will only use remote learning snow days for any days we may have to cancel school due to snow above and beyond those total five.  In the event that we do have to move to remote learning snow days, here’s what you should expect as parents:

First – in order to meet requirements outlined by our state and federal laws, we must offer lunches to students and families on the days we do remote learning snow days.  We will do this by asking families who are interested in having a lunch sent home with their children the day before a snow day to please sign up using the survey that is OUTLINED BELOW.  Yes, this means we are going to have to pay extra special attention to the weather and on days that might look questionable, send meals home the day before so families have them.

Second, our goal would be that remote learning snow days allow us to strengthen and maintain learning for our students.  Unlike the pandemic where we might need to be prepared to have multiple remote learning days in a row, a remote learning snow day is more than likely just one day so the learning materials that will be sent home (K-5) or posted online via google classroom (6-12) will be primarily aimed at making sure learning is strengthened and maintained rather than focusing on new learning.

Our building leaders have worked closely with our talented staff to develop a more detailed overview of what to expect on remote learning snow days by grade level. 

Special Education Services Expectations:

Our Special Education staff will also continue to provide remote learning snow day instruction to students.  Their expectations for services are outlined on the school district website at gorhamschools.org

These will be the expectations for our remote learning snow days IF WE NEED TO USE THEM later this winter.  If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher or principal to ask and to learn more.  

In the meantime – below is the survey link for families that would like to request that a lunch be provided for remote learning snow days.  I’ll also share broadly on social media and on our website.  Please complete the survey as soon as possible as who knows what mother nature has in store for us next week!

Remote Learning Snow Day Survey Link:  

PRE K QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

In my last blog, I sent out a survey asking folks to ask questions they may have regarding our new Pre K program opening in the fall of 2023 at Narragansett Elementary School.  I got some GREAT QUESTIONS.  I haven’t had a chance to answer all of them yet, but I thought I’d take the time to highlight a few here on this blog post and then link to a Q&A sheet with all the questions that I’ll continue to post answers to over the course of the next few weeks.  So please keep checking the Q&A link below for additional answers!  Here’s a few highlighted questions now:

Question:  What are the typical credentials of specialists(OT, PT, S/L) providers for Pre K? Are they the same for Kindergarten or early primary, or are they birth-5? What levels are teachers and ed techs certified for?

Answer:  All specialists that will be utilized in our Pre K program will have full licensure to perform the duties required of them for the age level they will be working with.  Speech, OT’s, PT’s all will have full approval to work with Pre School-Aged children.  Teachers working with Pre K students will have the 081 early childhood certification endorsements required by the state of Maine.  Educational technicians are certified to work with all age levels including early childhood.  The Gorham Schools will be conducting hiring processes for all new staffing positions in April of this year.  If you are interested in applying, or know someone who is, please keep your eye out on our website or servingschools.com for postings then!

Question:  More of a clarification: the Arts Alliance and Seedlings will be providing Pre-K services in addition to the two classrooms at Narragansett AND they will be free of cost too? Will we have to work with those organizations directly to utilize their program or will enrollment all be done through the Gorham school system?

Answer:  Yes, our partnerships with the Gorham Arts Alliance (for 8 student slots) and Seedings to Sunflowers (for 32 student slots) will be funded by the State of Maine as public Pre K slots.  These are in addition to the 64 new slots that will be housed at Narragansett Elementary School.  These are all approved public Pre K programs.  This means families will not be charged for these costs.  Please keep in mind, however that before or after care services may still be charged by our partners, but the Pre K programs themselves will be free to families. Enrollment for the Gorham Arts Alliance programs and the Seedlings to Sunflowers Programs will be conducted directly through those two organizations, although we hope that the Gorham Schools can help families make the necessary connections later this spring if needed.  If you have questions regarding the Gorham Arts Alliance program, you may contact Amy Valentine at gorhamarts@gmail.com. If you have questions regarding the Seedlings to Sunflowers program, you may contact Meghann Carrasco at meghann@seedlingstosunflowers.org.

Question:  Will transportation be provided or will the parent(s) be responsible for the transportation for their child?

Answer:  YES.  Transportation will be provided from home/childcare to school and from school back to home/childcare to any location in the community of Gorham for the classrooms housed at Narragansett Elementary School.  This will be the case for BOTH the a.m. and p.m. sessions.  For students participating in the Gorham Arts Alliance and Seedlings to Sunflowers programs families will have to provide transportation.

Question:  Will there be any options or partnerships for aftercare/before care?

Answer:  The Gorham Schools is working with many of our local child care providers to ensure there are appropriate slots available for before/after care.  We have had several meetings and will continue to meet in order to work on building out these partnerships for families as we realize this is a strong need.  So far we have been able to identify 16 slots with one of our partners and we are looking to continue with the hopes that by the time we get to the April/May time frame we will be able to host an evening event for families and interested providers to do a little “match making”.  Ultimately, however it will be the parent’s responsibility to work with individual providers to secure these slots – but we will do our best to make sure those slots are available and well communicated later this spring.

GORHAM, ME (January 25, 2023) — Stevens’ farm would like to welcome the community to use their land for sliding, tubing, snowboarding etc. It’s been so great to see all the families sledding recently.

As you turn into Great Falls School, you will see a hill and ranch on the right. This is family land, and we welcome the school and community to enjoy it.

You are welcome to park to the left on Pit Rd. Enjoy!

*Activities at your own risk. Considered recreational by our insurance.*

GORHAM, ME (January 18, 2023) – Gorham Schools has an exciting new partnership with the Maine Association of General contractors. We are starting a new summer program together! This program will specifically target recent GHS graduates for a six week immersion experience with the trades! The program pays participating students a substantial stipend to “immerse” themselves in the trades with the help of local business partners!

GHS will have ten available slots and Westbrook HS will have ten slots. Classes will take place at the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center. Students will gain experiences in carpentry, electrical, heavy equipment operation, crane operation and more!

This will be the first year of what we hope will be a multi-year program to benefit graduating seniors from GHS who want to get a “leg up” in determining their career pathways in the trades or just a “leg up” in exploring all the possibilities the trades have to offer!

GORHAM, ME (January 27, 2023) — The Department of Community Development is pleased to announce a new competitive matching grant opportunity for Gorham businesses. The program provides a 50% match up to a total of $5,000 for projects addressing facade improvements, energy efficiency, and public accessibility. The deadline for applications is February 24th. Please see the attached application, which will be published on the Town website and posted on Facebook during the week of January 30th.