The Maine MultiCultural Center promotes community enrichment and economic growth by attracting, retaining, supporting, and integrating people of diverse cultures and backgrounds into greater Bangor.

New Mainers are resilient in the face of increasing challenges

Dear Friends of Maine MultiCultural Center,

Changes in the last year to federal immigration policies and procedures have turned MMCC’s world, and that of the families we serve, upside down. The results are heartbreaking. The refugee resettlement program that was bringing talented workers to our community has come to a full stop. Families are reaching out to us for help in understanding what the new rules mean for them. Immigrants who have had their Temporary Protective Status revoked, and concomitantly their work authorization, are contacting us desperate to find legal assistance and a way to keep body and soul together.

As our new neighbors have increasingly become the targets of raids and removals, MMCC is stepping in to help counter some of the impacts. Transporting and accompanying to appointments with USCIS, connecting to affordable legal services, assisting the families of detainees that have been left without a breadwinner – we are doing what we can to help mitigate the harm.

The new policies are not only cruel and often illegal; they are economically unsound. The 57,500 immigrants who call Maine home (4.1% of the population) have a spending power of $1.7 billion and pay $625.1 million in taxes. These are people working in our hospitals, schools, farms, and small businesses helping Maine thrive at a time when our workforce is shrinking.

Since February of 2023 when we helped resettle our first family, MMCC has served 100 households (325 individuals) and are currently engaged with 59 households (223 individuals). All are in safe, permanent housing, all children are enrolled in school, and 80% of the working age adults are employed. Working age adults who are not employed are almost entirely parents caring for young children at home. We remain engaged with over 200 of our new neighbors. It takes time to become fully integrated into a new community in a new country.

Although refugee resettlement has come to a stop, we have a growing number of secondary migrants, refugees who were resettled in other parts of the country but who, encouraged by friends or relatives who have found a safe and welcoming home here, have relocated to the greater Bangor area.

Despite the trying times, we continue to witness many successes. For example:

• MMCC helped connect a local entrepreneur who was opening a new construction company to a new Mainer who was himself a contractor before immigrating. He is now the foreman for the company training and managing a crew of seven other new Mainers. The company is doing so well they have expanded the services that they offer to include masonry.
• We helped connect a Syrian family, along with their local partner, to the technical assistance they needed to develop a business plan for the Middle Eastern restaurant they have started.
• We connected a Venezuelan family with the Maine State Housing Authority’s First- Time Homeowner program which enabled them to purchase a home.

MMCC is a lean organization with 1 full-time and 2 part-time staff members. Without our staff and the volunteers they recruit, train, and support, we would not be able to offer the integrative services that help our new neighbors thrive. With funding from federal agencies now cut off, your support is needed now more than ever. As the year draws to a close, we invite you to stand with us to continue supporting the New Mainers in our community.

With heartfelt gratitude and hope,

Pamela Proulx-Curry,
Executive Director

Please visit mainemulticulturalcenter.org to make your gift online, or mail your check to:
Maine MultiCultural Center, 12 Acme Rd., Suite 201A, Brewer, ME 04412.

Consider setting up a monthly recurring donation. Steady support ensures that our work helping New Mainers successfully integrate into our community can continue.