Community Dental received $10,000 from the Welch Charitable Fund to increase capacity for underserved orthodontic patients, primarily children, in the Portland area. Contributed / Community Dental

What do theater seats, orthodontic equipment and squash courts all have in common?

This riddle is answered by the Welch Charitable Fund, which awarded grants to fund these items that serve needs in Greater Portland. Founded in 1983 and supporting nonprofits every year since, the Welch Charitable Fund granted $222,000 to 19 organizations in Cumberland County this December.

The Welch Charitable Fund – operated by the Maine Community Foundation since 2010 – supports organizations that serve people in need in the Greater Portland area, focusing on supporting youth, education, health care, substance abuse recovery or the arts.

Vincent Welch’s obituary. He founded the foundation in 1983 with his wife, Barbara Welch. Contributed / Maine Community Foundation

The foundation was started by Vincent and Barbara Welch, who retired from careers in law and physical therapy in Washington, D.C., to return to Vincent’s native Maine, becoming deeply involved in the area’s charities and civic life.

“They returned home, and they had very little family. They had no children, and they decided they would set up a nonprofit foundation to give away what they had earned through life,” said Sally Vamvakias, chair of the Welch Charitable Fund and a friend of the Welches.

Following Vincent’s death in 1984 and Barbara’s in 2002, the foundation continued serving the community under the advisory of the couple’s friends. Since 1983, the Welch Charitable Fund has given approximately $7 million to more than 150 local organizations.

The Welch Charitable Fund has about $250,000 to distribute per year. This year, $100,000 was given to the University of New England’s new health care education facility in Portland and 89 other organizations applied to receive a portion of the remaining funds.

“We’ve seen more and more of our grant programs are getting more and more proposals, and we don’t necessarily have more funding to give away,” said Katie Howard, a community partner for the Maine Community Foundation who coordinates the Welch Charitable Fund.

This year, the Welch Charitable Fund is supporting building expansions and renovations for organizations including the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine, the Elder Abuse Institute of Maine and Milestone Recovery; the installation of various technology systems for North Yarmouth Academy and Crossroads for Women; and community-building programs at Woodfords Family Services, Best Buddies International and Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute.

The new community commons at Portland Community Squash, which was supported by the Welch Charitable Fund. Contributed / Portland Community Squash

Crossroads is a nonprofit organization that supports addiction recovery and behavioral health treatment at centers in Portland, Windham and Scarborough. It received $7,500 from the Welch Charitable Fund to upgrade the computer equipment for its residential and outpatient treatment centers so that clinicians and staff can better serve clients.

“We’re just super grateful for the support from the Welch Charitable Fund. They recognize that this is definitely such a need in the state to treat these clients, and we look forward to working with them in the future on other projects,” said Lesley Rawlings, chief marketing and development officer at Crossroads.

The organization, which has been specializing in treating women with co-occurring addiction and mental health disorders since 1974, also received a Welch Charitable Fund grant last year to support their mothers and children program.

Portland Community Squash received $15,000 from the Welch Charitable Fund toward its capital campaign to expand and renovate its facility, a project completed in December. The center now has additional courts, a community commons and a yoga studio.

“We really wanted to expand our spaces to accommodate both a growing membership and have a space in which people can break bread and connect off of the squash court,” said Sarah Stickney, development director at Portland Community Squash.

“And with our new spaces, we will be able to, over time, just grow both the membership and the youth that we are able to connect with,” said Stickney. “It’s really founded on this idea of building social capital and building networks with a diverse community.”

Chris Sullivan, the executive director of Royal River Community Players in Yarmouth, said that the theater nonprofit also focuses on strengthening community bonds first and foremost.

The “Matilda” cast for Royal River Community Players sits in the audience during rehearsal. The organization received funds to purchase more comfortable and inclusive chairs. Contributed / Royal River Community Players

“The last couple years we’ve really been focused on inclusivity. I think of us as a community first and a theater second,” said Sullivan.

Last year was the Royal River Community Players’ first full season after the COVID-19 pandemic and in the space they moved into in 2020. In the theater, the audience had to sit on wooden benches and stiff chairs. Sullivan said that their multigenerational audiences were uncomfortable and requested changes.

“The most feedback I got was our shows were wonderful, and our community is really great, and that the seats are uncomfortable,” he said.

The Welch Charitable Fund gave the Royal River Community Players $8,102 for 91 moveable, cushioned theater seats and two storage carts. Sullivan said the red velvet seats will bring a sense of style as well as allow audience members of all ages to comfortably attend.

“For us, it was a way to kind of increase accessibility. Thirty percent of our patrons last year requested seating accommodations, either seats with backs or seats with cushions. And so this was our way to kind of meet that need,” said Sullivan.

Community Dental received $10,000 from the Welch Charitable Fund to increase capacity for underserved orthodontic patients. The not-for-profit dentistry provides oral health care to primarily low-income patients.

Meghann Dombroski is the orthodontist at Community Dental. She says no other orthodontist in Greater Portland accepts MaineCare, health care coverage for low-income Mainers. On the one day a week that she works for Community Dental, she sees over 50 patients, focusing on medically necessary orthodontic care for children under 21.

“I really wanted to expand this benefit and make sure that we can help this population get treated,” Dombroski said. “This orthodontic clinic obviously operates just on our Medicaid fees through MaineCare, and because of that, grant funding is absolutely critical for our ability to be able to treat these kids.

“Really, these kids are not going to get care if organizations like Community Dental aren’t providing it, and Community Dental isn’t going to be able to give that care if organizations like the Welch Charitable Fund isn’t able to support them in our important missions for the community.”

While the Welch Charitable Fund has donated to many larger projects, such University of New England’s medical center, these smaller capital projects having lasting impact – and tally over 40 years of giving to Greater Portland.

“They’re supporting these large capital campaigns, but also supporting places like Mainely Smiles with a new dental chair that’s going to double the amount of people that they can see,” said Howard.

“It’s a smaller scale than supporting a larger capital campaign. But I would say the difference is just as big,” she said.