Gateway Community Services, the migrant-run social services agency now facing multiple whistleblower allegations of artificially inflating Medicaid billing, received a grant of over $65,000 in donations raised by a nonprofit organization in the wake of the 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston.
Abdullahi Ali’s Gateway Community Services Maine was one of 29 nonprofit organizations that were each given $65,522 in funds raised in response to the Lewiston mass shooting by the Maine Community Foundation in April of last year.
Gateway Community Services has faced significant scrutiny following allegations of financial misconduct from former employees, who have claimed the organization engaged in systematic Medicaid fraud, artificially inflating MaineCare billings for at least seven years.
The Maine Community Foundation (MaineCF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, launched two concurrent fundraisers just two days after the Oct. 25 mass shooting, on Oct. 27, 2023.
While one of the funds was for victims of the shooting and their families, the other fund, called the “Lewiston-Auburn Area Broad Recovery & Organizations Fund,” was distributed to various local nonprofit organizations.
MaineCF raised a total of more than $6 million in donations across the two funds, and directed $4.7 million to victims, families, and survivors.
Through the second fund, MaineCF allocated $1.9 million to area nonprofits — including the $65,522 to Gateway Community Services Maine — some of which used the funds for initiatives unrelated to direct victim support, including several projects aimed at Lewiston’s immigrant and refugee population.
MaineCF created a steering committee comprised of representatives from various Maine nonprofit organizations and other community members to decide where to disburse the donations from the Broad Recovery & Organizations Fund.
At least four members on that 10-person steering committee were also representatives from organizations that would be chosen to receive funds from MaineCF, including Nathan Davis, who is the Director of Programs at Gateway Community Services Maine.
According to a fact sheet published by MaineCF, Gateway Community Services utilized the funds to establish “youth support groups with certified counselors,” as well as to initiate “food delivery services for those affected,” and to host “peer support events” on Zoom.
In January of 2025, the One in Five Foundation, a nonprofit that launched a review of how MaineCF donor funds were distributed, received a statement from the Maine Attorney General’s Office that indicated the office had reviewed the fund and found no legal concerns.
“I write on behalf of the Attorney General in response to your request for a review of the Maine Community Foundation’s (“MCF”) distribution of funds raised in the aftermath of the Lewiston shooting tragedy,” Assistant Maine Attorney General Christina Moylan wrote in the statement. “As a preliminary matter, the Attorney General’s Office acknowledges the lasting physical, emotional, and financial harm caused by this tragic event and remains committed to supporting crime victims and survivors.”
“We have thoroughly reviewed the issues surrounding solicitation and allocation of the Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund raised by the MCF. We have not identified any legal concerns with MCF’s processes or distributions,” Moylan wrote.
Regarding the disbursement of the donor funds to the 29 nonprofits, Moylan stated “there were no legal restrictions on the use of the funds, they were free to use them at their discretion.”
