Brattleboro, VT – The Windham & Windsor Housing Trust held its Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 27th at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center to report to its membership, elect new board members, and honor the memory and dedication of SEVCA housing specialist Susan Howes with a special award.
Over 100 staff, supporters, residents, funders and friends were in attendance at the annual gathering, which featured a special keynote address from Dr. Jim O’Connell, Director of Boston Healthcare for the Homeless and subject of Tracy Kidder’s bestselling biography, “Rough Sleepers.”
New members elected to the board include Kayenda Snide from Springfield Supported Housing Partnership, and Denny Frehsee, Community at Large.
A highlight of the event was the presentation of the distinguished Tom Yahn Award to the late Susan Howes, who served as Senior Housing Specialist with Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) until 2023. The award is given out annually to a community member who demonstrates a long-term commitment to the preservation and development of affordable housing and/or to the lives of those who live in affordable housing.
“Susan was not only a remarkable person, but an extraordinary housing case manager,” says Pat Burke, SEVCA Family Services Director. “She took her work very seriously and worked tirelessly on behalf of folks in our community who struggle to find and stay in housing. She was encouraging, empathetic, compassionate, and a strong advocate for what she believed in. She had an amazing wit and a tremendously warm smile, and she put people at ease even in their most challenging times. She was the best at what she did.”
“Susan Howes embodies this award,” says WWHT Executive Director Elizabeth Bridgewater. “She was truly a champion on the housing front. Throughout her 19 years with SEVCA, her tireless dedication to helping countless families find safe and stable housing is just exceptional. Susan always made sure that her clients felt informed and empowered. Her strengths were in building relationships and discovering paths to make things really happen. Her loss is felt deeply throughout our community.”
Preceding and following the formal agenda, attendees could view WWHT’s new public art project– a mosaic made up of 35 unique tiles created by community members, under the theme of “Home.”
The WWHT 2023 Annual Report can be accessed online at www.homemattershere.org. The Housing Trust would like to thank Brattleboro Museum Art Center for hosting the evening, and event sponsors Mascoma Bank, Savings Bank of Walpole, the Vermont Country Store, and C&S Wholesale Grocers.
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WWHT is a mission-driven non-profit organization, established in response to increasing threats to the region’s supply of affordable housing. We build concrete solutions to the region’s housing challenges, and provide better housing opportunities to more than 1,500 Southeastern Vermonters each year.
**Photo credit: Liz Lavorgna
(SEVCA’s Pat Burke, right, accepts the Tom Yahn Award on behalf of the late Susan Howes. Left, WWHT Board Member Leo Schiff; center, Susan Howes’ daughters Meg and Emilie)
