Opportunity Alliance

Childcare & Early Childhood Education- A collection of programs working in partnership with families and the community to ensure children are ready for school.- CDA Development Center: Offers training for the Child Development Associate credential. The CDA credential is recognized nationally as the quality standard for professional early childhood educators. CDA training helps teachers work effectively with infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families in either a center-based or family childcare setting.- Early Childhood Education: TOA believes that the pathway to school success begins even before a child is born. Staff work with families to support the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of their children at all ages, in classrooms and at home, to prepare them for their later transition into kindergarten. All TOA Early Childhood Education programs meet the comprehensive Head Start Performance Standards to ensure the highest quality of services for children and families across Cumberland County. Programs include: - Early Head Start: A free family visiting program for qualifying families. "Parent Partners" make weekly home visits to pregnant mothers and children aged 0-3 and their families.- Head Start: A program that provides all children with a safe nurturing environment while supporting parents as they identify and meet their own goals and nurture the development of their children. Head Start sites are located throughout Cumberland County and are free to qualifying families.- Public Pre-K Partnerships: Head Start partners with the Public School System. Head Start and Department of Education funds are used to deliver this model. In these classrooms, transportation is provided by the school districts.- Childcare: Offered full day/full year. TOA serves children 6 weeks to 5 years old. Subsidized childcare fees are on a sliding scale and are based on household income and family size.- Parent Education: Evidence- and strength-based parenting education classes that provide parents and caregivers an opportunity to develop and strengthen their parenting skills.- Whole Families: Coaching services provided to low-income families emphasizing education, economic support, social capital, and health and well-being for both children and parents. - Maine Families: Works in partnership with expectant parents and parents of babies and toddlers to ensure safe home environments, promote healthy growth and development for babies and young children, and provide key connections to needed services.- Women, Infants and Children (WIC): WIC is a nutritional education program which provides supplemental foods to promote good health for pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, and infants and children up to age 5.

Poverty & Economic Supports- A collection of programs and services designed to increase income, and basic needs by ensuring access to food, safe and stable shelter, utilities, as well as volunteer opportunities.- Cumberland County Homeless Prevention Program: Assists families and individuals who live in Cumberland County (excluding Portland, Brunswick and Frye Island) in finding, securing, and/or maintaining housing.- Central Heat Improvement Program (CHIP): For major home improvements that allow residents to heat their home year after year, CHIP provides eligible homeowners with monetary grants to evaluate, repair, and/or replace components involved in heating a home.- Energy Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP): For urgent situations, this program provides emergency fuel assistance to HEAP eligible households in Cumberland County. A household may be eligible for up to $400 in emergency funds (or 100 gallons) to avert an energy crisis. Those in danger of a utility disconnect that directly affects their ability to heat the home, who do not have the financial resources to pay utility providers, may also receive ECIP benefits.- Keep ME Warm: Fuel assistance distributed to Mainers by 211.- Foster Grandparent Program: Provides an opportunity for volunteers aged 55 and older to stay active by providing 10-40 hours a week of emotional and educational support to children in the classroom.- Emergency Rental Assistance Program: Helps pay rent and utilities for Maine renters affected by COVID-19.- Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP): To help Mainers stay safe and warm, HEAP provides money to help eligible homeowners and renters in Cumberland County pay for a portion of their annual heating expenses. The program provides a one-time, per-season, direct payment to heat vendors for homes heated with oil, kerosene, wood, propane, natural gas, electricity, and other fuels. - Senior Companion Program: A volunteer opportunity for adults over the age of 55, interested in sharing their time to help homebound elders remain living independently in their own home and/or provide respite for family caregivers.- Wrap Funds: Discretionary grant funds available to meet urgent needs of adults with severe and persistent mental illness that cannot be met through other systems of care. - Work Life Advisor: Supports and empowers individuals to help them find successful employment and economic stability. Services include resume guidance, education about online job resources and navigation, and help filling out job applications.- 211 Maine: In partnership with Maine United Ways, TOA runs the statewide 211 call center, where specialists can be reached via phone, text, or email 24/7 to provide free and confidential information and connect callers to local programs. You can also search our online directory, then call us to discuss the options that are best for you. Resources include aging and disability, basic needs, crisis, education, family, food, health, housing, jobs, substance use, and more.

Behavioral Health & Wellness- A continuum of community and residential mental health and substance use disorder services for children and adults.Community Mental Health:- Behavioral Health Home (BHH): Delivers integrated care to people who struggle with mental health. BHH care coordinators, in collaboration with the program nurse care manager, help clients consider their needs around housing, health care, finances, work, education, social and recreation time, and other areas that are important to them. Together, clients and care coordinators use this information to develop a treatment plan made up of individual goals and preferences.- Broadway Crossings Adult Crisis Stabilization Unit: With a capacity of eight adult beds, this short-term crisis stabilization unit provides an alternative to hospitalization that allows people to remain connected to their support networks in the community.- Children's Behavioral Health Home: An integrated approach working to meet the physical and mental health needs of children and young adults with developmental, behavioral, or mental health concerns.- Mobile Crisis Response Services-Mobile Outreach: Available 24- hours a day, 365 days a year, individuals and families experiencing a behavioral health crisis have immediate and free access to a team of trained professionals.- High Fidelity Wraparound: This program offers a family-centered, community-oriented, strengths-based, individualized planning process that relies on a balance of formal and informal supports to help children and families achieve their goals.Homeless Youth Services: Community-based case management services for youth and families at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness in southern Maine.- The Maine Crisis Line Statewide Crisis Telephone Response: The Maine Crisis Line (MCL) is the state's crisis telephone response service for individuals or families experiencing a behavioral health crisis or having thoughts of suicide and/or self-harm. Trained crisis call specialists answer the line and provide free and confidential telephone support and stabilization 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. MCL is the single point of entry to Maine's Behavioral Health Crisis Services System through the toll-free number: 1-888-568-1112.- The Project for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH): Outreach, engagement, and referral services for people with mental illness and those with co-occurring substance use disorders who are experiencing homelessness in York and Cumberland County.- The Women's Project: TOA staff work directly with parents experiencing, or in recovery from, substance use, to provide both immediate support and long-term solutions. We aim to ensure parents and their children are safe, healthy, and able to remain together in a stable environment.Residential Services:- Gordon Green: An eight-bed permanent residence providing intensive treatment and support for elderly adults under guardianship with a combination of challenges including mental illness and disabilities related to age or physical impairments.- Helen Winslow Ray House: With a capacity of eight residents, this program provides trauma-informed treatment and support services to adults living with mental illness. Often clients have co-occurring conditions, such as chronic health problems and/or substance use disorders.- Morrison Place: A 12-bed treatment facility offering intensive individualized treatment of homeless adults with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse issues. The program helps clients to achieve recovery and lead sober, stable lives through education and group and individual counseling. Throughout their time at Morrison Place, clients learn to build strong relationships with peers, family and friends, and other individuals throughout the community.- The Ocean Street Residential Program: Provides trauma-informed treatment and support services to eight adults living with mental illness complicated by co-occurring chronic health conditions as well as a potential substance use disorder.- The Bridge: A 12-bed short-term residential treatment program for homeless adults with a major mental illness, provides a comprehensive treatment program that assists residents with securing long-term housing while stabilizing their mental health and connecting them to community resources and supports.

Community Well-Being- A collection of programs working with youth, families, neighbors, and partner organizations to build strong networks and healthy neighborhoods.- Lakes Region Collective Action Network (LRCAN): An open meeting for community service providers in the Lakes Region to come together to network, share resources, and collaborate on addressing community challenges.- Maine Youth Action Network (MYAN): MYAN is a statewide network of committed adults and passionate young people who believe in the transformative power of youth leadership. MYAN encourages prevention-focused, youth-centric social change through programming and technical assistance for young people and adults.- Public health services including SNAP-Ed nutrition classes and Partners for Thriving Youth, which plays a convening role, guiding or partnering with local stakeholders to develop policies, improve systems and change the environment in which people live, work or play. - Community Building: A place-based initiative that helps transform target neighborhoods into communities where people know each other and take care of each other. TOA Community Builders are on the ground in the target communities (East Bayside, South Portland, and Bridgton/ Lakes Region) to support residents in creating long-term, systemic change. - General Assistance: A program of the Department of Health and Human Services, administered by TOA in some cities and towns, which helps income-eligible individuals and families to meet their basic needs. - Community School Development Project at South Portland Middle School: Community Schools are public schools that provide services and support, created and run by people who know the community best.