Collins, King announce more grant funding

aimed to End Domestic Violence in Maine

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) announced that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women has awarded $91,641 in grant funding to the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence.

“It is essential that victims of domestic violence are provided with every possible resource to ensure their safety,” Sens. Collins and King said in a joint statement. “The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence has spent four decades building a community of support to meet this critical goal and keep homes across our state safe from the threat of violence. We commend the Department of Justice for recognizing such a dedicated organization, and we remain committed to supporting the victims of domestic violence so that they can live free from fear.”

The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence (MCEDV) was founded in 1977 and today is comprised of eight local domestic violence resource centers — including the Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance serving Penobscot and Piscataquis counties — that provide 24-hour services across the state. Its mission is to create and encourage a social, political and economic environment in which domestic violence no longer exists, and to ensure that all people affected by domestic abuse and violence are supported and that abusers are held accountable. MCEDV mobilizes and coordinates community action through a statewide network of domestic violence projects. Through these partnerships, it can focus resources on public policy, education and systems advocacy.

This funding was provided through the Grants to State Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Coalitions Program, a program authorized by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). State coalitions like MCEDV have played a critical role in advancing the goals of VAWA, serving as a collective voice to end violence against women through collaboration with federal, state, and local organizations. Sen. Collins was an original cosponsor and Sen. King was a cosponsor of the reauthorization of VAWA, which was signed into law on March 7, 2013.