Description

The Elmina B. Sewall Foundation’s Rapid Response Fund supports organizations and communities responding to emergencies or short-term opportunities in Maine. Emergencies are unexpected, unplanned situations requiring an immediate, time-limited response; time-sensitive opportunities generally arise within the next few months. Work must advance the foundation’s mission of equity and interconnected well-being for people, animals, and the environment, but need not fit another Sewall grant program.

Examples include helping small nonprofits meet emergency food, fuel, or housing needs, assisting animal shelters facing unforeseen crises, and covering unexpected legal costs that remove barriers to equity. The fund emphasizes community voice, racial and environmental justice, collaborative responses, and time-sensitive land return and land access efforts.