Golden delivers $861,000 for tribal youth facility at Pleasant Point

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) announced today that he has secured $861,000 for the construction of a recreational facility for Passamaquoddy youth. The funding is part of the partial 2024 government funding package signed into law Saturday.  

“There’s real value in preserving one’s heritage, and this facility will bolster the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s efforts to do so,” saidGolden. “A community kitchen to pass down cultural recipes. Spaces better equipped to host and pass down ancestral traditions. With so many new opportunities soon to be possible, this new building will help unlock the full potential of generations of young people to come.”

The project — Kotuwaposu, or “Safe Place” in the Passamaquoddy Language — will house the Pleasant Point Boys & Girls Club in a 14,000 square-foot facility including a community kitchen, gym, social space, computer lab and teen space for tribal youth. 

“I would like to thank Congressman Jared Golden for his commitment and assistance to the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point,” said Passamaquoddy Chief at Pleasant Point Pos Bassett. “We shared a traditional meal made with moose meat after I first took office in October 2022, and I’m grateful for the time he has spent learning to know our community. Our current facility is an outdated and rundown tribal office. The building is rotting away and some of the doors are held shut with rope. We are absolutely pleased that the initial funding for the Kotuwaposu Youth and Recreational Facility that Congressman Golden supported has been approved. On behalf of the children and community of Pleasant Point we want to say Woliwon — thank you.”

The Boys & Girls Club is a tribal program that provides an array of recreational and cultural  activities for young people in the Pleasant Point Indian Reservation. It aims to help children find healthier ways to grow physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. 

The request on behalf of the Pleasant Point Tribal Government was one of 15 awards from Golden’s Community Project Funding (CPF) requests approved as part of the appropriations package. His $26 million in successful CPF requests was the most of any Democrat in Congress.

###