The new Groundworks Collaborative facility at 54 S. Main St. is opening this week, giving clients facing housing insecurity a break from the heat and access to vital services.
“We want to embody our tagline, which is ‘Basic needs met with dignity,” Josh Davis, executive director of Groundworks Collaborative, said Tuesday during a tour of the site.
He described the building being constructed for durability and to have “a very welcoming feel.”
Many thanks to Kelly Pedersen and Anne Bagasao, who created this Amazon Wish List to help us gather items needed to support our neighbors who have no option but to camp once the motel program narrows eligibility (starting on Thursday, July 1). If you are able, please consider checking out this wish list and purchasing one or more items to help us meet this tremendous need.
With policy changes taking effect in the State of Vermont’s General Assistance (GA) emergency motel voucher program, Groundworks Collaborative is putting the final details in place to open the new Groundworks Drop-In Center on July 1st.
From VPR News: For the past year, the state of Vermont has used federal COVID relief money to give everyone who was experiencing homelessness a private room, in motels and hotels across the state. So what will happen to those 2,000 or so people when the pandemic ends?
Kevin O’Connor wrote this informative story for VTDigger (2/7/2021) on the use of Coronavirus Relief Funds to help house Vermonters experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. Groundworks and the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust have led the way in southern Vermont, collaborating in 2018 to open Great River Terrace (North Brattleboro) and now with the January 2021 opening of The Chalet (West Brattleboro). These permanent supportive housing communities are built on a model that is proven to end homelessness.
A permanent home for Brattleboro’s Seasonal Overflow Shelter and adequate space for our community’s Day Shelter are nearing completion. The renovation of 60 South Main Street—the existing Drop-In Center building—will be the third and final phase of this project.
Foodworks—our food shelf program at 141 Canal Street in Brattleboro—has shifted operations back to pre-COVID hours of operation. The program is open to anyone with any level of need in the greater Brattleboro area. People wishing to pick up a free two-week supply of groceries can drive or walk up to Foodworks’ location and choose from items on a grocery list; at which point a volunteer will pack the order and bring it out to the vehicle.
COVID-19 has encouraged collaboration between organizations to an extent not seen before. This year, St. Brigid’s Kitchen and Foodworks collaborated to create November and December Holiday food boxes—joining forces to distribute over 400 boxes of holiday food to anyone in need. For many years, St. Brigid’s Kitchen & Pantry and Foodworks of Groundworks Collaborative, have each distributed holiday food boxes in both November and December.
UPDATE February 3, 2021: Thank you for all of the coats. The coat drive has been a great success and we have more than enough donations at this point for this season. Many thanks to Nancy Shepherd, who organized a COAT DRIVE for Groundworks Collaborative!
The Brattleboro Reformer published a December 20, 2020 article about the new Groundworks facility nearing completion, including an interview with Josh Davis. We anticipate opening as early as April. The new building will be a permanent home for our community’s Seasonal Overflow Shelter (SOS) as well as all of the Drop-In Center’s daytime services and will consolidate Groundworks’ administrative offices.