Hires, promotions, appointments

Wrona

Hospice of Southern Maine, located in Scarborough, welcomed Dr. Mark Wrona, a palliative care physician at New England Cancer Specialists, to its board of directors. Wrona, who lives in Falmouth, is board certified in internal medicine and hospice and palliative medicine.

Alex Perry has been hired as the new stewardship coordinator for Falmouth Land Trust.

Jolicoeur

The Real Estate Leader is pleased to announce the addition of Sidney Jolicoeur of Portland to the team at its Scarborough location.

Marett

McTeague Higbee, a Topsham law firm that advocates and protects the rights of Maine’s working people, announced that Mathew Marett, Esq. of Portland has joined the firm. Marett will work in the firm’s workers’ compensation division and handle complicated bodily injury claims.

Portside Real Estate Group of Falmouth is proud to announce the addition of Caitlyn Briere of Scarborough, Nick Clark of Falmouth, Kristina Pearson of Cape Elizabeth, Eliza Rauscher of Cape Elizabeth and Jen Tabb of Portland to its team. All five agents will work primarily in Portside’s Portland, Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth offices.

Hogan

Gregory Hogan, a licensed professional engineer, recently joined Criterium Engineers’ corporate headquarters team in Freeport. Hogan leads the company’s national operations division as director of operations.

Benchmark Real Estate welcomes James Benoit, Erika Puschock and Kim Sutton to the team. Sutton, based in Portland, is a 22-year veteran of the real estate industry and works with clients across Southern Maine. Benoit and Puschock, both Maine natives, will team up to specialize in all aspects of commercial real estate. 

Granted

The Edward H. Daveis Benevolent Fund of the Maine Community Foundation has awarded $85,000 in grants to 12 Greater Portland organizations and programs that support young children. Grantees include Center for Grieving Children, based in Portland, to continue delivering bereavement and TLC programs, $5,000; Locker Project, to provide healthy staples for children in Greater Portland, $7,500; Maine Audubon Society in Falmouth, to pilot a “Mobile Habitat Lab” to bring safe, nature-based environmental education to young learners and their teachers at Portland public elementary schools, $6,500.

The Maine Community Foundation’s Equity Fund has awarded seven grants that total $50,687 to nonprofit organizations for projects and capacity-building work that address lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) issues and needs in Maine. Grant recipients include Frannie Peabody Center in Portland, to evaluate its internal practices through a diversity, equity and inclusion lens. Maine Transgender Network, also based in Portland, received a grant to ensure transgender people in all communities in Maine have access to spaces where they belong and health care where they are affirmed.

Portland Stage has been approved for a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support the Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights. The project will provide exposure, encouragement and critical feedback to emerging playwrights.

Giving back

UScellular has donated $8,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine as part of its “Give with US” campaign, when the company pledged $5 to Boys & Girls Clubs for every device that was traded in during the month of December, up to $100,000. In addition to receiving credit for their trade-in, customers were able to support a Boys & Girls Club in their region of the country.

“This donation could not have come at a better time,” said Brian Elowe, chief executive officer of Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine. “We are grateful for UScellular’s continued support to help us meet the numerous challenges we have faced this past year to help our kids and the families in our community.”

Save the date

On April 7, Spurwink will welcome guests virtually in celebration of Spurwink’s impact — increasing access to critical behavioral health needs— and honoring community leaders who make Maine a healthier place to live and work. This year’s Humanitarian Award will be given to Cullen Ryan, executive director of Community Housing of Maine, and special recognition will be given to Spurwink’s Frontline Heroes. Registration is now open at spurwink.org/humanitarian.