The John T. Gorman Foundation will award $1 million to 52 Maine nonprofit organizations through its annual Direct Services Grant Program, based in Portland. Through this support, the foundation will partner with nonprofits who are working to meet the immediate needs of some of Maine’s most vulnerable people, according to a news release from the foundation.

This year’s grants include:

• $25,000 to support emergency mental health services for those experiencing homelessness in the Bangor area;

• $25,000 to bring skilled nurses into the homes of children with cancer in York, Cumberland and southern Oxford counties;

• $5,000 to transport food to a pantry in rural Waldo County; and

• $15,000 to supply fresh produce to seniors in Aroostook County.

Mental health and cancer have traditionally been core issues addressed by the Direct Services Grant Program. This year, in recognition of the critical need for services that help Maine families put meals on the table, the Foundation has added food insecurity as a focus area to its grantmaking. Nearly one in four Maine children has experienced food insecurity in the past year.

“We’re proud to continue to fund essential programs that provide support to Mainers suffering from mental illness and cancer,” said Tony Cipollone, president and CEO of the John T. Gorman Foundation, in the release. “With this year’s addition of food insecurity as a focus area, the Foundation hopes to confront an issue that is close to home for far too many families in this state.”

Of the 52 organizations that have been awarded funding, 23 are organizations that address food insecurity in Maine, 15 meet the needs of cancer patients and their families, and 14 offer mental health services.

John T. Gorman, known as Tom, established his namesake foundation to help disadvantaged Mainers. In recent years, the independent, statewide Foundation has moved to focus strategically on four key areas: improving educational achievement for children, promoting successful transitions to adulthood for vulnerable older youth, helping struggling parents to support their families and enabling low-income seniors to remain in their homes as long as possible. In 2014, the Foundation distributed a total of $7.2 million to support programs around the state.

For more information about the John T. Gorman Foundation, visit jtgfoundation.org.

Here is the full list of grants:

Statewide

• American Cancer Society Inc.

To provide ongoing funding to support the Patient Navigation Programs at Maine Medical Center and Maine General Medical Center. $25,000

• Androscoggin Home Health Services Inc.

To provide volunteer and bereavement services for hospice patients and their families who are impacted by cancer. $25,000

• Cancer Community Center

To provide support for the Maine Buddy Program, a statewide phone-based cancer support and peer connection program with a specific focus on serving those in rural areas of the state. $15,000

• Cancer Support Center Of Maine

To provide support services to Maine people affected by cancer. $5,000

• Community Housing of Maine

To provide support to address the long-term mental health needs of chronically homeless clients. $5,000

• Easter Seals Maine Inc.

To provide mental health support to veterans, service members, and their families. $25,000

• Frannie Peabody Center Inc.

To provide mental health services for people living with HIV/AIDS in Maine. $25,000

• Grahamtastic Connection

To provide laptops, tablets and Internet access for children in Maine who are battling cancer. $20,000

• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Inc.

To provide assistance with travel and other expenses for Maine patients undergoing cancer treatment. $25,000.

• OHI

To provide funding to increase recovery while decreasing isolation for people with mental illness through social integration, opportunities for recreation, and peer supports. $20,000

• Penobscot Community Health Center

To provide mental health services to clients in the Hope House Health and Living Center. $25,000

Androscoggin County

• Cultivating Community

To provide support for programs that increase access to healthy food. $25,000

• Healthy Community Coalition

To provide support for programs that address food insecurity, including efforts at local farms to provide food to local food banks. $20,000

• Lake Region Senior Service Inc.

To provide support for programs that provide transportation to low-income seniors, disabled citizens, and cancer patients. $5,000

• Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program Inc.

To provide support for programs that provide food to low- income families. $20,000

• Seniorsplus

To provide funding for Meals on Wheels for older adults in Androscoggin County. $25,000

• St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center

To provide funds to support food access initiatives, as well as creative approaches that train and assist partners in supporting garden access and education opportunities. $25,000

• Trinity Jubilee Center Inc.

To provide funding for the Feeding L-A Project, which provides healthy food to low-income residents of Lewiston-Auburn and the surrounding towns. $25,000

Aroostook County

• Friends Of Aroostook

To provide funding to grow, maintain, harvest, and deliver fresh produce to Area Agencies on Aging sites in Aroostook, Washington, Piscataquis and Penobscot Counties. $15,000

• Upper Valley Economic Council

To provide support for the Upper Valley Economic Council’s Food Pantry, serving food insecure families in Aroostook County. $5,000

Cumberland County

• Amistad

To address the needs of individuals with mental illness and other life challenges; develop peer services; and advocate for changes to the mental health system. $25,000

• Homehealth-Visiting Nurses Of Southern Maine

To provide support for the Pediatric Social Work/Navigator Program, which supports children and families coping with the challenges of cancer, and the Pediatric Telehealth Oncology Program, which allows families to access care from their homes. $25,000

• Milestone Foundation Inc.

To provide support for the Milestone Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement (HOME) Team and Emergency Homeless Shelter. $25,000

• Shalom House

To provide support for programs serving long-term homeless individuals by finding them stable housing and assisting them in accessing other services. $25,000

• Tedford Housing

To provide support for mental health services for clients at the Cumberland Street Emergency Housing Shelter in Brunswick. $22,500

• The Center For Grieving Children

To provide support for the Tender Living Care Program, which provides education and emotional support to families when a parent or caregiver is diagnosed with a life impacting illness, including cancer. $20,000

• The Opportunity Alliance

To provide support for the Children’s Outpatient Therapy program, which provides mental health assessment and treatment services to children and their families. $20,000

• The Root Cellar

To provide funding for food, including more fresh vegetables, whole grains and lower-fat proteins, for food-insecure families in Portland and Lewiston. $10,000

• The South Portland Food Cupboard

To provide support for the purchase and distribution of nutritious foods to those in need in South Portland. $10,000

• University of New England

To provide incentives that will increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables for participants in a SNAP benefit study. $25,000

• Windham Raymond School Nutrition Program

To provide support for the district’s backpack program, which provides food to food-insecure children over weekends and holidays throughout the school year. $15,000

Franklin County

• MaineGeneral Health

To provide support to develop a specific nursing department as the point-of-entry for all patients learning of suspicious or abnormal results that could lead to an oncology referral. $25,000

Hancock County

• Eastern Agency On Aging

To provide support for the Pantry Partners program, which serves low-income clients through emergency and supplemental food boxes and transportation of food from food pantries to seniors’ homes. $20,000

• Hospice Volunteers Of Hancock County

To provide support for patient care, caregiver support, and bereavement services for residents of Hancock County. $15,000

• Jobs With Justice Education Fund

To provide funding to deliver healthy, locally grown food to SNAP users, including families in crisis, laid-off workers, seniors, and people with disabilities who need homecare. $15,000

• Maine Coast Regional Health Facilities

To provide increased access to mental health services for uninsured and underinsured residents in western Washington and Hancock counties. $25,000

Kennebec County

• Augusta Food Bank

To provide food to children and families and serve as a resource for families in crisis. $15,000.

• Kennebec Valley Community Action Program

To provide transportation services to individuals and families affected by cancer. $20,000

• Maine Farmland Trust Inc.

To provide support for the Veggies For All and Community Farm Share programs to better addressing the needs of food insecure people in Maine. $25,000

Knox County

• Area Interfaith Outreach

To provide food and emergency aid to economically distressed people of Knox County. $15,000

• Knox County Homeless Coalition

To provide support for mental health programs serving homeless clients in Knox County. $25,000

• Methodist Conference Home Inc.

To provide funding for the Meals on Wheels program in Knox County, and to provide food for low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities who live in the Methodist Conference Home. $25,000

• Penquis CAP Inc.

To provide funding for transportation assistance for individuals who do not have or cannot afford transportation to cancer treatment or support. $25,000

Oxford County

• Progress Center Inc.

To provide support for the Community Kitchen program, which serves nutritious meals to low-income children, adults, and the elderly in Norway, Maine. $25,000

Penobscot County

• Pine Tree Hospice

To provide operating support to assist clients and families experiencing the challenges that accompany end of life and bereavement. $15,000

Piscataquis County

• Piscataquis Regional YMCA

To provide support for the Maine FarmShare program, which provides fresh produce to seniors including delivering food to those who are home-bound. $20,000

Sagadahoc County

• Maine School Administrative District 75

To provide funding for mental health counseling at the school’s health center. $7,500

Waldo County

• Jackson Food Pantry

To provide food to low-income children, families and seniors in Waldo County. $5,000

Washington County

• Down East Hospice Volunteers

To provide cost-free compassionate care for terminally ill cancer patients, their families and their caregivers. $15,000

• Maine Sea Coast Missionary Society

To provide support for the Weald Bethel Food Pantry, which serves low-income residents within a 700 mile radius of Washington County. $25,000

York County

• Seeds Of Hope Neighborhood Center

To provide support for programs that provide low- income families with food and connections to community services. $10,000

• York County Community Action Corp

To provide support for mental health services such as assessments, behavior and treatment planning, and whole-family interventions for children in Head Start. $25,000

The John T. Gorman Foundation advances and invests in innovative ideas and opportunities that improve the lives of Maine’s most vulnerable people. The independent, statewide Foundation focuses on four key areas: Improving educational achievement for children, promoting successful transitions to adulthood for vulnerable older youth, helping struggling parents to support their families and enabling low-income seniors to remain in their homes as long as possible. The Foundation’s work is guided by data, evaluation, national best practices and lessons from the initiatives in which we invest. We also seek to inform and influence practice and policy on issues affecting disadvantaged children, youth, families and seniors.