Press Releases
01/15/2019
Bread of Life Ministries Receives Support For Shelter Expansion
Bread of Life Ministries Receives Support For Shelter Expansion
Bread of Life Ministries Receives Support For Shelter Expansion
AUGUSTA – Bread of Life Ministries, which offers the only homeless shelter in Augusta, is closer to its goal of raising $571,000 for a shelter expansion thanks in large part to a $25,000 grant from the Avangrid Foundation, in partnership with Central Maine Power.
Bread of Life is a longtime partner program of United Way of Kennebec Valley, with community funds directed to the shelter and soup kitchen annually. Despite strong community support, the 26-bed shelter turns away about 60 to 100 families a year due to space constraints. The organization’s capital campaign, “Never Say No Again,” will add 14 beds to the family facility and three bedrooms to the veterans’ shelter. The family shelter renovation will also add additional bathrooms, laundry rooms and needed office space.
“This expansion is critical in our continued mission to serve the most vulnerable in our community, and the Avangrid Foundation has partnered with us in our effort to ‘Never Say No Again,’” said John Richardson, executive director of Bread of Life Ministries. “That means never having to say no again to a homeless single mom or veteran who is in need of homeless services and shelter. Avangrid and CMP have brought us that much closer to ensuring every person in our community who finds themselves homeless and in need of services can get those services.”
“The partnership with United Way of Kennebec Valley is a long and deep one,” said Nicole Licata Grant, Avangrid Foundation Director. “And through them, we can touch partners like Bread of Life, who are taking on issues that impact our community deeply, like breaking the cycle of homelessness.”
Doug Herling, president and CEO of CMP, said the company “has worked to support solutions to local community challenges for more than 100 years. We are pleased to be part of Bread of Life’s growing response to homelessness as part of the United Way of Kennebec Valley and through the Avangrid Foundation.”
Thanks to the support of many individuals, businesses and foundations like Avangrid, Bread of Life now has about $98,000 more to raise to reach its goal. Construction on the project is underway, with the renovated space set to open in the spring.
The Avangrid Foundation is an independent organization that funds philanthropic investments primarily in areas where AVANGRID and its subsidiaries operate. To learn more about the Foundation, visit avangrid.com. For more information about Bread of Life or to donate to the capital campaign, contact 626-3434 or go to mainebreadoflife.org.
About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $44 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens. In 2024, Avangrid ranked first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About Iberdrola: Iberdrola is one of the world's biggest energy companies and a leader in renewables, spearheading the energy transition to a low carbon economy. The group supplies energy to almost 100 million people in dozens of countries. With a focus on renewable energy, smart networks and smart solutions for customers, Iberdrola’s main markets include Europe (Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Greece), the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. The company is also present in growth markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Ireland, Sweden and Poland, among others.
With a workforce of nearly 40,000 and assets in excess of €141.7 billion, across the world, Iberdrola helps to support 400,000 jobs across its supply chain, with annual procurement of €12.2 billion. A benchmark in the fight against climate change, Iberdrola has invested more than €130 billion over the past two decades to help build a sustainable energy model, based on sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
