PORTLAND, Maine — As one year since the tragedy of the Lewiston mass shootings approaches, many survivors and family members of victims who were killed are still grieving.
Coupled with their grief and continued work to recover from the trauma the shootings caused, some survivors and families of victims killed in the shooting are asking questions about how money that was raised in response to the tragedy was distributed.
Maine Community Foundation (MaineCF) created the Lewiston-Auburn Response Fund shortly after the shootings in Lewiston happened.
The initial press release that was sent out by the foundation on Oct. 27, 2023, informing the community and media about the fund that was created, stated "With MaineCF as a conduit, 100% of every dollar donated will be allocated to people impacted and the organizations that will help guide Lewiston-Auburn through the process of healing."
MaineCF's Vice President of Communications and Marketing Tom Janeda said two separate funds were created under the Lewiston-Auburn Response fund, one fund that supported victims and families impacted by the mass shooting and another that supported nonprofits and organizations that provided support for victims, families of victims, and the community at large in response to trauma the mass shooting caused.
Janeda said the foundation was clear in its messaging: keeping ethics at the forefront of every decision that was made.
According to Janeda, MaineCF contracted Jeff Dion, who is experienced in helping organizations respond to catastrophic events, immediately after the mass shooting.
Dion said the foundation's president Deborah Ellwood, called him 24 hours after the mass shooting for guidance.
Families of victims like Amy Sussman, whose nephew Maxx Hathaway was killed in the shooting, and survivors like Bobbi Nichols, who escaped the mass shooting and whose sister Tricia Asselin was killed in the shootings, both questioned why MaineCF made the decision to create a separate fund to raise money for nonprofits in the community.
Sussman and Nichols also question whether it was morally ethical to create a fund that people could donate to that would be divided amongst multiple nonprofits in connection to a mass shooting.
Dion said he made the recommendation to MaineCF and stated, "I stand by that 100 percent."
"Community foundations regularly fund nonprofits to provide services. I come to community foundations and say, 'We need to do something different, and you need to have a separate fund just for victims," Dion said. "We come in with the perspective of we want you to add this, and I don't think it's reasonable to say, 'We want you to ignore your entire other operational model and how you do business.' Donors got to decide, if you want to help victims, help here. If you want to help nonprofits, help here."
Dion said that several nonprofits were met with an influx of needs from the community as a result of the mass shooting.
Dion's recommendation is one that Beckie Conrad said she supports. She lost her nephew, Thomas "Tommy" Conrad in the shootings.
Beckie sat on MaineCF's steering committee with many others who decided how the money raised for organizations should be divided. There was a separate steering committee responsible for planning how to distribute money to survivors and families of victims killed in the shootings.
"It was the nonprofit sector that was helping make sure they knew where they could go get services to understand trauma... hear of having a gunman on the loose for more than two days," Beckie said. "We were in lockdown. Kids that depend on our school department to get their free breakfast and lunch weren't getting fed on Thursday and Friday."
According to the foundation's website, $6.6 million total was raised from the Lewiston-Auburn Response Fund. The fund created for survivors and families of victims received $4.9 million in donations. The fund created for local nonprofits and organizations received $1.7 million in donations. That money was distributed to 29 community nonprofits.
To view all the non-profits that received funding, click here.
Sussman said she struggles with the MaineCF's decision making. She explained that she does not believe that every nonprofit that received funding provide support to families of victims and survivors of the mass shooting.
Sussman said she understands that the mass shooting had lasting impacts on the community, but said she does not feel that large lumpsums of money should have been allocated to organizations and widely dispersed.
"Perhaps Lewiston-Auburn area could have used some community support prior to the shooting, and I think that this became an opportunity to start doing that a bit," Sussman said.
Sussman mentioned that some organizations like the YWCA, which used funds they received to improve building security, were able to receive funds to complete a project that they desired to fund well before the mass shooting happened.
"How is that helpful to my nephew's family? And why was my nephew's murder and the murder of 17 others used for your building security?" Sussman said. "You know... I struggle a lot with that."
Nichols said she too struggles with understanding why MaineCF included a nonprofit piece, expressing that she feels many survivors and families of victims aren't getting the necessary support they need.
"I just feel like we were used, and there's a lot more that I don't know," Nichols said. "But I'm sure I'm going to find out."
Despite MaineCF's many press releases that detailed that there were two separate funds to donate to, both Nichols and Sussman said that they were completely unaware that the foundation raised money for local nonprofits.
"They never asked us about how we feel about that. We're never included in a lot of it. It's like everyone is making decisions on behalf of the whole group, whether you're a victim, a victim's family member or a survivor," Nichols said. "It's like we don't really matter but everyone's talking about us."
Sussman said she found out about the separate fund in July after stumbling upon an article in MaineCF's Maine Ties newsletter.
"I walk away certainly with appreciation of the Maine Community Foundation for what they did for my nephew's family. One hundred percent," Sussman said. "I don't want that to be lost in any of this, but I also walk away questioning that nonprofit piece and it being a part of this effort."
Sussman also questions why some non-profits on the list were eligible to receive funding being that some members who sat on the steering committee and who helped determine how to distribute funds for the non-profit sector also double as current executive directors for nonprofits that received funding.
For example, Joleen Bedard is the executive director for United Way of Androscoggin County, Julia Sleeper is the executive Director for Tree Street Youth, and Nathan Davis is the director of programs for Gateway Community Services Maine. Each of these individuals sat on the steering committee and the organizations they lead or are connected to received funds. There are several other members of the steering committee who also serve in leadership roles for non-profits that received funds from the Lewiston-Auburn Response Fund.
Conrad said the steering committee did not make formal votes when choosing what non-profits should receive money. She also added that there was an informal recusal process.
Conrad explained that although members of the steering committee who served in active leadership roles for non-profits that received funds did not excuse themselves from the room during conversations that lead to group decisions on whether their non-profit should receive funding, they also did not advocate for their own non-profits. Conrad said the group spoke for them, deciding whether the non-profit should receive funding, regardless of the steering committee member's connection to a non-profit that received funds.
Sussman said she finds that as a conflict of interest.
In the end, Conrad said she wants people to remember that the whole community suffered a traumatic experience that has lasting impacts.
"The bedrock of our community is on the nonprofit sector," Conrad said. "The sector that steps in around mission driven work when the private sector or the government sector can do what needs to get done."
To receive funding, organizations had to meet certain criteria. The application that nonprofits and organizations had to fill out to be considered to receive funding can be viewed below.