Beautiful, locally hand-crafted “Empty Bowls” are available for $25 each (until they sell out) in Brattleboro business storefronts—including: Zephyr Designs, Everyone’s Books, and The Shoe Tree! Online sales have ended but you can still make a tax deductible donation. Read on for details.
Groundworks and our Foodworks food shelf are grateful to all of the potters who made beautiful hand-crafted “Empty Bowls” for this year’s virtual Empty Bowls dinner. A number of businesses made this virtual twist possible by selling bowls in their storefronts—including: Zephyr Designs, Everyone’s Books, The Brattleboro Food Co-Op, The Putney General Store, Putney Food Co-Op, The Kitchen Sync, and The Shoe Tree! Working together, this community raised over $27,000 to keep the shelves stocked at Foodworks (very nearly what we’ve raised with the annual dinner!)! Many warm thanks to all who made sure COVID could not spoil this community effort to ensure the food security of our neighbors in need.
The Chalet, formerly known as Dalem’s Chalet on South Street in West Brattleboro, is now the site of significant activity. Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) and Groundworks Collaborative have partnered to take a significant step towards ending homelessness in Brattleboro by providing permanent homes and supportive services to individuals who are currently sheltered in motels.
As our country mourns the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others before them, we, as Groundworks Collaborative, stand in solidarity with those working tirelessly to dismantle racism and systemic inequity.
The new construction phase of Groundworks’ capital project began on May 6, 2020 after the Governor’s stay-at-home restrictions were relaxed to allow a few construction workers on site. As the delayed construction start has shifted the project’s overall timeline, we are unsure when to expect to open the new building. We will post updates here as new information becomes available. The final phase of this project will be the renovation of 60 South Main Street—our existing Drop-In Center—for which we continue to raise funds.
Groundworks announced plans Monday morning outlining the future of the construction site adjacent to Groundworks Drop-In Center. In an effort that will cost $3.3 million—for which Groundworks has already secured over $2.2 million in committed funds—the nonprofit provider of services to the region’s citizens experiencing homelessness will build a roughly 5,000 square foot building to permanently house the Seasonal Overflow Shelter (SOS).
Formerly known as “the Food Shelf” and having operated from the Drop-In Center at 60 South Main Street since the 1980s, Groundworks’ program providing supplemental food to our neighbors in need served well over 3,700 people in over 1,400 households in 2018.