Connecting with Opportunities Initiative
For Mainers Impacted by the Opioid Crisis
Maine’s Connecting with Opportunities Initiative is a dislocated worker grant that is focused on the opioid crisis. It can provide one-on-one career guidance, employment-based case management, and financial assistance to unemployed individuals impacted by opioid use disorder (personally or as an “affected other”). It can also assist out-of-work individuals who would like to enter career fields focused on substance use disorder and recovery.
WHO THIS GRANT CAN SERVE: Dislocated Workers (laid off from employment) or long-term unemployed individuals (unemployed for 27 weeks or longer), who:
- Have been impacted by the opioid epidemic – either directly or indirectly
- Would like to go into occupational fields related to substance use disorder/recovery, such as counseling, addiction treatment and mental health care

GRANT SERVICES include:
- career counseling and job search assistance
- training/education or work-based training opportunities such as on-the-job training or work experience
- case management, which may include financial assistance related to education or supportive services like tuition, transportation, or childcare
For More Information, CONTACT SERVICE PROVIDERS:
AROOSTOOK COUNTY ACTION PROGRAM (ACAP)
77 Main St., Presque Isle, ME 04769
Kathy Williams, Program Supervisor: kwilliams@acap-me.org 207-554-4137
In partnership with the Northeastern Workforce Development Board serving: Aroostook County
EASTERN MAINE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (EMDC)
40 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401
Loretta Alley, Senior Workforce Development Specialist: opportunitygrant@emdc.org 207-991-0459
In partnership with the Northeastern Workforce Development Board serving: Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Washington counties.
In partnership with the Central Western Maine Workforce Development Board serving: Androscoggin, Franklin, Kennebec, Oxford and Somerset Counties
WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS
190 Lancaster St. Ste. 200, Portland, ME 04101
Sarah Overlock, Intake Specialist: Intake@workforcesolutionsme.org, 207-930-7047, inqury form
In partnership with Coastal Counties Workforce, Inc. serving: Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Waldo and York Counties