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 CAN THIS GRANT 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
Erin Benson, Program Supervisor:  ebenson@acap-me.org  207-768-3045
In partnership with the Northeastern Workforce Development Board serving: Aroostook County


EASTERN MAINE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (EMDC)
40 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401
Doug Dunbar, Program and Recovery Specialist: OpportunityGrant@emdc.org 207-299-5626
Susan Cerini, Director Workforce Services:  scerini@emdc.org  207-561-4044
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
Gerry Corcoran, Program Manager: Gerard.corcoran@goodwillnne.org 207-274-3305
In partnership with Coastal Counties Workforce, Inc. serving: Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Waldo and York Counties