Press Release

Reentry Sisters Receives $150,000 Grant from Sunshine Lady Foundation to Launch Education Initiative for Formerly Incarcerated Women

Portland, ME – June 1, 2025 – Reentry Sisters, a Maine-based non-profit organization dedicated to supporting women transitioning from incarceration, is proud to announce it has received a $150,000 grant from the Sunshine Lady Foundation. This transformative funding will be used to implement the Reentry Sisters Education Initiative, a program to remove barriers to education for women who have transitioned back to their communities, offering access to academic advising, career counseling, tuition support, and mentorship. The initiative reflects Reentry Sisters’ mission to empower women with the tools they need to rebuild their lives, achieve economic independence, and reduce recidivism.

"We are very grateful to the Sunshine Lady Foundation for recognizing the need to support justice-impacted women in Maine. While we currently offer bridges to services, mentoring, and community connection services, this grant will expand our work to include a dispersed educational model focused on college persistence and retention,” said founder and Executive Director, Linda Small, of Reentry Sisters. Small founded Reentry Sisters in 2022 to serve incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated women across Maine.

Education is a powerful tool for transformation, and this grant will allow us to expand our services and help more women create new pathways to success.   

The Sunshine Lady Foundation was founded in 1996 by Doris Buffett to support higher education in prison and reentry programs. Buffett’s Foundation has supported Maine in the past when it funded the first college program inside the Maine State Prison. 

For more information about the Reentry Sisters Education Initiative or to support their work, visit reentrysisters.org or contact [press contact information].

Contact:  Linda Small reentrysistersmaine@gmail.com