Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness NPC

Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness NPC, a Native American-owned, tax-exempt tribal nonprofit headquartered in Bangor, Maine, operates exclusively as a federal grant recipient rather than a prime or subcontractor on federal contracts. The organization serves the five federally recognized Wabanaki tribes of Maine—Mi'kmaq Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Passamaquoddy at Pleasant Point, Passamaquoddy at Indian Township, and Penobscot Nation—delivering culturally centered behavioral health, substance use treatment and recovery, crisis intervention, maternal and child health, and public health infrastructure services across rural Aroostook, Washington, and Penobscot counties.

WPHW's federal grant portfolio spans 45 prime recipient awards and 27 sub-recipient awards totaling $112.1 million in combined obligated dollars across 25 distinct federal agencies. The bulk of funding flows from the Department of Health and Human Services, which accounts for the preponderance of active awards across SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and Health Resources and Services Administration, as well as CDC's chronic disease prevention and health promotion division. Recent representative prime grants include a $489,492 award from SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services (CFDA 93.00R, 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Services) through September 2029 to expand the 24/7/365 Wabanaki Careline crisis warmline and tribal 988 crisis response authority; a $463,435 cooperative agreement from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (CFDA 93.859, Biomedical Research and Research Training) through February 2028 to establish the Wabanaki Tribal Undergraduate to Graduate Training and Leadership Experiences (TURTLE) program for undergraduate research training in Indigenous health disparities; and a $5.012 million Project Grant from the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (CFDA 10.766, Community Facilities Loans and Grants) for construction and renovation of rural health care facilities in Bangor. Earlier grants include a $105,000 Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs Indian Economic Development award (CFDA 15.032) for a feasibility study on the Wabanaki Way Indigenous tourism experience.

Sub-recipient work flows predominantly through the Maine Department of Health and Human Services across multiple public health prevention, peer recovery, harm reduction, and maternal health initiatives. WPHW also acts as a subawardee to the University of Massachusetts Lowell on environmental health research and to the University of New England on training delivery.

Activity peaked in 2023 with 15 awards; recent years show contraction to eight awards in 2025 and two through September 2026. Seven awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating near-term recompete exposure. The organization's grant footprint reflects no federal contracting vehicles, GWACs, or multiple-award schedules—WPHW operates entirely within grant and subaward structures, with no prime contract authority.