Presente! Maine

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many Maine residents were isolated socially and struggling financially, the seeds of connectivity and community were taking hold in the southern part of the state.

That’s when a burgeoning volunteer effort, led by Crystal Cron, who now serves as Presente! Maine’s Executive Director, and her family, stepped up to support Maine’s Latinx community–in particular, undocumented workers who aren’t eligible for government benefits–which was among the hardest hit by the virus.

Despensa, March 2020. Photo courtesy Presente! Maine.

They recruited additional volunteers, solicited food donations, and soon were running a solidarity food pantry out of Crystal’s garage, providing free food to anyone in need throughout Portland and Lewiston. “The Food Brigade” served 50 people during their first week of operation in March 2020, and by February 2021, they were delivering 15,000 pounds of food to 2,200 people weekly.

“It snowballed,” recalls Adriana Mercedes Ortiz Burnham, Presente!’s Senior Director of Operations.

Four years later, Presente! continues to meet the immediate, critical needs of thousands of individuals and families that often aren’t on the radar of established programs and services. Led by Queer, Indigenous women, who co-design and implement programs alongside 12 multicultural and multilingual staff members, Presente!’s work has expanded to include community power building, transformative healing, and cultural celebration spanning numerous racial and ethnic groups, along with advocating for more equitable legislation at the state level.

“We’re committed to the fight for big systems change, and we know that creating the world we want requires fighting on multiple fronts,” says Crystal.

Through La Despensa Comunitaria, Presente! distributes food along with diapers, and other essentials to more than 300 families in Portland weekly. It also has a community health worker team that conducts outreach to seafood processors and other immigrant workers, to break down barriers to accessing preventive health care and promote healthy habits. Plus, there’s La Red Matriarcal, a support group where cohorts of new and expecting parents can engage in authentic learning practices over three-month periods.

La Granja Colectiva. Photo courtesy Presente! Maine.

To encourage displaced and dispossessed Afro and Indigenous Latinx peoples back into a loving relationship with their occupied land, Presente! operates La Granja Colectiva, a one-acre farm outside Lewiston that’s leased through a land trust (and Sewall grantee), Land in Common. Beyond growing fresh vegetables for the food pantry, La Granja provides a special place for the community to gather, and share their celebration and joy, along with their knowledge of their ancestral crops and natural medicines.

“Folks are really, really desperate to spend some time outside,” says Adriana. “Shared public outdoor spaces are not geared towards our community–there's a lot of racism–and so what we try to do is have some nice community gatherings at least monthly in the summer, where community members can come up. We offer childcare, we offer a meal.” 

“We've built some really beautiful friendships and relationships,” she adds.

Presente!, which received its nonprofit status in 2022, has received six Sewall grants since its inception in 2020: three Rapid Response grants, and three Healthy People Healthy Places Food Systems grants, including a 12-month grant to develop and grow the farm, and a 24-month grant for general operating support. Sewall is Presente!’s second-largest funder for its food sovereignty work, and Feeding America is the first.

Presente! Maine receiving Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project’s Community Partner of the Year Award. Photo courtesy Presente! Maine.

“They’re growing and sharing food, supporting holistic healing, and developing models of shared power and leadership,” said Kristina Kalolo, Sewall’s Food Systems Community Partner. “They’ve accomplished and built so much in three years–all in ways that are directly informed by, and responsive to, their community.”

Looking ahead, Presente!’s plans for La Granja include farming a second acre, adding processing capabilities, and expanding the medicine garden. Having cobbled together meeting and event space for years now, it’s also on the lookout for a permanent home that would ideally allow for cold storage and winter storage, so the farm could provide for the food pantry year ‘round.

“The dream is to be fully sustainable, continuing to build out structures and systems and doing that in a really mindful way,” says Adriana.