Dear Housing Trust friends,

As we write this letter during Vermont’s Stay Home/Stay Safe order, our last year accomplishments feel worlds away from this new reality of fulfilling our mission during a global pandemic. Reflection on these, however, serve as a quiet reminder of our strengths and how our past actions have prepared us to respond to the current needs of our residents and homeowners in a safe and healthy way.

In 2019, we embarked on a new three-year strategic plan that aims at fostering innovation and excellence, improving the lives of the people we serve and increasing housing opportunities, particularly in upper Windham and Windsor Counties. We are proud of the progress we made in our first year and are excited to share some highlights and stories of our work and of the people we serve.

Our focus on innovation and excellence compelled us to reorganize how we deliver property management services resulting in less paperwork stress for our residents and a quicker turn-around time to fill vacancies. We also expanded our maintenance team and reallocated resources to increase resident support. In addition, our homeownership team has laid the groundwork to launch an interactive, online program which will allow homebuyers to visually map their progress, upload documents directly and easily communicate with our Homeownership Specialists remotely without losing the personal touch that our customers value so much.

To advance toward our goal of improving the lives of the people we serve, our Green Mountain Home Repair team made significant progress with a record 92 homes having been rehabbed, repaired or increased in energy efficiency. In addition, WWHT convened a Leadership Circle of Executive Directors from many of Brattleboro’s leading housing and social service organizations. In our time together and with feedback from the community we identified housing retention support as a significant gap in the system. We are now working closely together to find effective ways to fill this gap so that renters receive the support they need to maintain stable and safe homes.

Expanding new rental housing opportunities remains a primary goal of the Housing Trust. The Snow Block, in downtown Brattleboro, was completed in mid-November and all 23 apartments were fully occupied by the end of the year. We also identified a new project in Bellows Falls that will transform a dilapidated old parking garage into 26 new apartments along the Connecticut River. Construction is slated to start later this year. Finally, two projects in pre-development include 24 new homes adjacent to the Putney Food Coop and the redevelopment of Brattleboro’s Municipal Center which will result in approximately 22 new apartments.

In all of our work and in the stories you will read in the following pages, courage is a reoccurring theme – the courage to think about ourselves differently, the courage to tackle challenging problems or take on a daunting project. It will take courage to face what the future will bring, but we are committed to it because the significance of home as the foundation of health and safety has never been more evident. We are so grateful to have your support on this journey. Thank you!

With gratitude,

At 47, Darlene overdosed. It was then, at her lowest ebb, that her life changed forever. While unconscious, Darlene dreamed of her 12 grandchildren — all of them together — and that vision was powerful enough to invoke change. Determined to get off the street, Darlene turned to the Drop-In Shelter at Groundworks Collaborative and found the help she needed. Groundworks set her up with a representative payee to oversee her finances, and helped her apply to Great River Terrace. She became a resident in August, 2018.

“I love it here so much. The apartments are beautiful, and I’ve never met people so helpful. It’s the best feeling ever to come in, unlock my door and say I’m home — to feel this again after so long.”

Through the supportive services available to her through GRT, Darlene has found the serenity and stability she needed to address her mental health and substance abuse issues. With her newfound confidence and independence, Darlene has become a beacon of hope for others struggling with addiction and homelessness. With two-and-a-half years of sobriety, Darlene is now a certified recovery coach, runs GRT’s weekly sobriety support group, and has even started another community-based group called Core Experts designed to help people understand what it’s like to be homeless and fight addiction. As the head of the tenant council, she is actively involved in resident life and advocacy, facing every issue and concern with a positive attitude and a huge heart. She has even brought her passion and perspective to the WWHT Board of Directors.

“What I experienced — being a single woman living on the streets — it’s terrifying. I just want to help other people who are struggling find a good stable home, like I did. I feel blessed.”

It’s the seemingly simple things that are so meaningful for Darlene, like cooking, doing laundry, having a garden, and celebrating birthdays with other residents. But the very best part of life at GRT for Darlene, is the time she spends with her grandchildren. “I see my grandkids every day. The youngest — 17 months — just said ‘I love you.’ It feels so amazing — living here has made me love myself again. It’s made me a better person.”

Westgate’s food shelf is thriving under Billie’s leadership. She handles everything from ordering all the food from the Food Bank, to meeting the monthly delivery, to setup and distribution. Her budget doesn’t allow for much fresh produce, so she’s eyeing a plot at the Brattleboro Retreat Farm to plant a garden and grow vegetables herself. The food shelf has 2 posted open days each month, but residents often stop in during the week. 

“It’s a lot of work, but I feel like I’ve brought a lot of enthusiasm because I re ally enjoy it. I like seeing the residents and getting to know my neighbors. I’m learning a lot, too, about the Food Bank and how it works. I’m competing with 60 other groups for food, but the more I am on, the better quality food we get.”

One of Billie’s top goals is to increase the number of people who take advantage of the food shelf. “I’ve been trying to build it up, and I was surprised more people weren’t coming, considering how good the food is. I try to tell residents that a little bit of their rent goes toward this — that it’s for everybody. What I want the most is for more people to come.” 

Through affordable housing at Westgate and its sense of community, Billie Wells has stepped outside her comfort zone and found purpose, and both she and her daughter are enjoying a better quality of life. “I feel really safe here, my child is doing really well in school, I feel like we’ve really flourished in this town. I just want people to feel the same excitement about living here that I do. 

“It took a lot for me to join the board — to take over the food pantry. I need to do these things to make my life more meaningful. And it’s great for my daughter to see, too.”

In May of 2019, Windham & Windsor Housing Trust presented Mt. Ascutney Hospital with its Partnership Award in recognition of its decade-long dedication to the SASH program. SASH is WWHT’s supportive housing program, designed to help Vermonters live safely and healthfully at home.

Created in 2009 as part of a statewide health care initiative, the SASH program helps Vermont’s most vulnerable citizens access the care and support they need while living at home. The program is available in communities throughout Vermont, including Windsor Village and Union Square, two WWHT properties serving seniors in Windsor. Mt. Ascutney Hospital has been an integral partner with WWHT since the very beginning.

“We were part of the team that interviewed the first SASH coordinator, and were there when they built their first caseload,” says Jill Lord, Director of Community Health at Mt. Ascutney Hospital. “We had already established a network of community partners when SASH was entering the community. There was a solid alignment of vision and mission of improving the health of the community.”

When WWHT started its SASH program at Windsor Village in 2013, Mt. Ascutney Hospital immediately understood the potential impact the partnership could have. The hospital and its entire clinical staff embraced the value of the SASH model to provide individualized, on-site support, and assigned staff nurse Rita Bennett to the program. 

Since 2013, Rita spends every Thursday on-site at Windsor Village in her official capacity as the SASH Wellness Nurse. Her monthly blood pressure clinics are well attended, and every week she arrives with a “topic-of-the-day” for group discussion, such as how to stay safe from the Corona Virus, the importance of exercise, and learning healthy eating habits. Mt. Ascutney Hospital has ongoing initiatives for Diabetes Prevention and Fall Prevention, and both programs are important topics in Rita’s weekly SASH curriculum. Sometimes — outside of her regular assignment — she even leads a Tai Chi class. 

“It’s tremendous what we’ve built up over the years,” says Rita. “I have a very special rapport with all of the physicians and with the hospital, and that is what continues to work well for us, and make us such a great resource. Whether it’s keeping a diabetic in a healthy mode, coordinating lab work, monitoring blood pressure, or helping someone get a flu shot, I can be that critical point person who gets back to a doctor. We are a team with a common goal, and that is keeping people in their home. That’s what we try to do.”