March 2022 Outreach Update
By Linda Horn
The Outreach Committee has been very busy and very committed to our work. We now meet every other week, and for stretches at a time meet weekly and do homework in between!
So what have we been up to? First, in an on-going effort, Sharon DeHaven has been coordinating the“Welcome Home Kits” program (see separate article). Right now we are collecting socks for the homeless and there is a basket on a window sill in which to put your donations. We recently had a visit from Sophie Swallow, who we sponsor as she works in reproductive health in Guatemala. Money was raised for HOPE’s Christmas Shop in December. And there’s more!
The vestry gave the Outreach Committee three areas on which to focus when disbursing the recent $150,000 donation for outreach grants. They are homelessness/housing insecurity, food insecurity, and affordable childcare in the Middlebury area. We have been meeting with tons of folks around the county who work in these areas to get a handle on the needs in our community..
You probably already saw that we gave $60,500 of this large donation to the John Graham Shelter. They are using the money to do the preliminary work required for an over $3 million AARPA grant. We felt that this was a great way to leverage the money to help with housing in Addison County.
We still have around $90,000 to give from this generous donation and we want to use it in an impactful way. We also have Peasant Market money to donate. We are using the information from our earlier research and interviewing new people on ways to help. We have come up with a new way to think about how our money might help others. It takes a bit more time but seems worth it.
We have also been doing other research, including around zoning for tiny homes and accessory dwelling units (also known as AUDs). Barb Wood has been attending zoning meetings because zoning is important as potential sites for tiny homes, as well as for adding an apartment on a housing site for a single family home.
Just last week we met with the leaders of United Way of Addison County regarding the needs of childcare providers, including the teen centers in Bristol, MIddlebury, and Vergennes. (If anyone has a van to donate these centers need one!) There are many systemic issues around childcare for younger children which we will not be able to influence other than writing to our elected representatives; however, we are still looking for ways to help and have been gathering ideas, particularly around summer programs including camps.
Work on the church website has been happening in conjunction with the Justice committee. Soon, you will see a new structure that is a collaborative effort between our two committees. For some website work is a breeze, but we have been relying on input given to us from Sharon Tierra, as well as Sophie Swallow all the way from Guatemala City!
Susan Anderson-Ray is currently our chair. We want to say many thanks to Sharon DeHaven for her contributions as co-chair for the past 18 months months, as well as her ongoing work with the Welcome Home Kits program! Susan has put all of our donations from the past twelve years into a spreadsheet (she loves spreadsheets) which provides an interesting angle for analysis. Here’s a fun fact from one of them: Did you know that St. Stephen’s gave away $160,000 in Peasant Market grants in the 10 years between 2011 and 2020? Who knew spreadsheets could be so much fun!
Everyone is welcome to attend our meetings, which are on zoom, and happen many Wednesdays at 4:00 or sometimes 4:30. Let Susan Anderson-Ray know if you would like the link.
