Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

Happy June! As we look forward into the Summer we at WeCAN wanted to remind you to keep up those calls, petitions, emails, and postcards to our representatives both at the local and state level: call to encourage impeachment proceedings, call to encourage a livable minimum wage, call to encourage fair treatment of unions, call to demand that we as humans have rights to both a habitable environment and reasonable health care. 

Windham County
Representative Michael Hebert, [email protected], (802) 451-9088, P.O. Box 120, Vernon, VT 05354
Representative Valerie Stuart, [email protected], (802) 257-0249, 520 Meadowbrook Rd., Brattleboro, VT 05301
Representative Mollie Burke, [email protected], (802) 257-4844, 62 West St., Brattleboro, VT 05301
Representative Tristan Toleno, [email protected], (802) 579-5511, 33 Highlawn Rd., Brattleboro, VT 05301
Representative Carolyn Partridge, [email protected], (802) 874-4182, 1612 Old Cheney Rd., Windham, VT 05359
Representative Matthew Trieber, [email protected], (802) 376-1134, 82 Atkinson St., Bellows Falls, VT 05101
Representative David Deen, [email protected], (802) 869-3116, 5607 Westminster West Rd., Putney, VT 05346
Representative Michael Mrowicki, [email protected], (802) 387-8787, 299 South Pine Banks Rd., Putney, VT 05346
Representative Emily Long, [email protected], (802) 365-7360, 239 Wiswall Hill Rd., Newfane, VT 05345
Representative Ann Manwaring, [email protected], (802) 464-2150, P.O. Box 1089, Wilmington, VT 05363
Representative Laura Sibilia, [email protected], (802) 348-7131, P.O. Box 2052, West Dover, VT 05356
Representative Oliver Olsen, [email protected], 1320 Middletown Rd., South Londonderry, VT 05155
State
Congressman Peter Welch, Email Form, VT office 1-888-605-7270 or (802) 652-2450 or (888) 605-7270, 128 Lakeside Ave, Suite 235, Burlington, VT 05401
Senator Patrick Leahy, Email Form, (802) 229-0569, 87 State Street, Room 338, Montpelier, VT 05602
Senator Bernard 'Bernie' Sanders, Email Form, (800)-339-9834, 1 Church St, 3rd Floor, Burlington, VT 05401
Governor Phil Scott, Email Form, (802) 828-3333, 109 State Street, Pavilion, Montpelier, VT 05609

HAPPENING THIS WEEK MONDAY, JUNE 5TH, 2017 - SUNDAY, JUNE 11TH, 2017

Day of Action to Support the Budget and Communities - Putney Rally
SAY NO TO THE VETO! 
Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 in front of the Tavern Common (Main Street, Putney, VT). 4pm-5pm.
Time to stand up for our teacher's collective bargaining rights and to protect our unions! The Putney Huddle and The Action Pod have coordinated with VT NEA, working in coalition with fellow labor unions, environmental groups, progressive business groups, and several others to push back on Gov. Scott’s planned veto of the budget and the education funding bill. We will stand with our signs along the Main Street of Putney in front of the Tavern Common to show our support of teachers and unions!
Demonstrations will also be happening that evening throughout the state in 26 other towns including Brattleboro and Bellows Falls. Info for all included in the following link or you can contact Laura at [email protected] 
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1782467168730047/?active_tab=about

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Day of Action to Support the Budget and Communities - Brattleboro Rally
Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 at Pliny Park (corner of Main and High Streets in Downtown Brattleboro, VT). 4:30pm-5:30pm.

Community members from across Vermont will come together on Wednesday June 7th to tell Gov. Phil Scott to stop holding the budget –- and Vermont –-  hostage.  The state budget invests in creating more affordable housing, increasing access to childcare, maintaining the Vermont state colleges, protecting clean water, and giving more resources to mental health workers on the front lines of the opiate crisis. This budget supports Vermonters and our communities. Gov. Scott is choosing to play politics with education, affordable housing, child care, and our waterways while pitting Vermonter against Vermonter. He also has taken steps to undermine the collective bargaining rights of teachers, starting with healthcare.
There will also be gatherings in Putney & Bellows Falls.

Sponsors: Vermont State Employees Association, Vermont AFL-CIO, Vermont-NEA, Vermont Democratic Party, Vermont Conservation Voters, Sierra Club – Vermont Chapter, Vermont Workers’ Center, Main Street Alliance Vermont, AFT-Vermont.

Can you join us? Click here for details and to RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/day-of-action-to-support-the-budget-and-communities-brattleboro?source=email&

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1155625121249310/

















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"So, you went to the Climate March. Now what?”
Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 at the Brattleboro Food Co-op Community Room (2 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 
6pm to 8pm. 

A Conversation about Climate Action, Campaigns and Community.Get together with 350 Brattleboro and your fellow marchers to find out about how to get involved with climate action campaigns and build a stronger community. Whether you marched in D.C., rallied in Montpelier, or wanted to march but weren't able to you're welcome to join us and build the better world we know is possible.

RSVP here.
Questions? Email [email protected].

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Vigil at TD Bank in Montpelier with The Upper Valley Affinity Group
sponsored by the Upper Valley Affinity Group
Thursday, June 8th, 2017 at the Corner of State and Main Streets in Montpelier, VT. 
11:30am-1:00pm. 
Continues on the Second Thursday of Each Month Through the Summer and Fall.
To ride share from Exit 5 contact Tim at 802.869.2141 or [email protected],net. 
Departs at 10am. 
Come and stay as long as you can to peacefully protest TDBank’s huge investments in climate and water destroying pipeline infrastructure.
Urge the State of Vermont and other depositors to close their TDBank accounts.
Support moving swiftly to 100% renewable energy and a state bank for Vermont.
We will be bearing witness and distributing fact sheets about TD's extensive financial support for pipelines.
Bring a sign, bring your friends, bring your neighbors, bring your lunch or just come and join us by yourself.
For more information contact Duncan Nichols 802 281 2692 or email [email protected]

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Brattleboro Area Community Action Meeting 
sponsored by Rights and Democracy
Thursday, June 8th, 2017 in the Community Room at the Brattleboro Food Co-op (2 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6:30pm. 
Please use the entrance at 7 Canal Street to access the Community Room. 
Help create plans for our “Democracy Summer”series of town hall meetings across the state to keep folks engaged and propel our movement forward. *Please note that this represents a change from the previously announced time slot on Thursday, May 25th in order to avoid a conflict with the COMMUNITY IN ACTION event being hosted by SEVCA at the Eagles Lodge on Putney Rd that day from 5-8pm. RAD will be staffing a table at this event, and we hope folks can make it.

 
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Protest Vigils at TD Bank
sponsored by Post Oil Solutions

Brattleboro
Friday, June 9, 2017 (and every Friday) in front of TD Bank Brattleboro (215 Main St, Brattleboro, VT 05301). Noon-1pm. Signs will be provided.

Bellows Falls
Friday, June 9 (and every Friday) in front of the TD Bank Bellows Falls (2 Church St, Bellows Falls, VT 05101). 1pm-2pm. Please bring your own signs.
TD is a major investor in Tar Sands. TD helps to fund the Dakota Access Pipeline. The State of Vermont Keeps Most of Our Cash in TD.
What You Can You Do (besides attending the vigils):
If you’re a TD depositor, change banks!
If you’re a Vermonter, demand that state funds not be deposited with a bank investing in fossil fuels.
Contact your state legislators to support the bills in the House & Senate calling for a commission to explore the possibility of a State Bank. 
Founded in 2005, Post Oil Solutions is a 501c3 community organizing project in Southeastern Vermont whose mission is to help empower the people of the Central Connecticut River Valley bioregion to develop sustainable, resilient , collaborative, and socially just communities leading to a self- and community-sufficient post petroleum society. For more information please contact [email protected] or 802.869.2141 

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Regular Putney Huddle Meeting with guest speaker, Cynthia Stoddard
Sunday, June 11th, 2017 at the Putney Public Library (55 Main St, Putney, VT 05346).1:30pm-3:30pm. 
All are welcome. RSVP here or via email [email protected]

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Lost River/BLM VT-South Organizing Meeting
Monday, June 12th, 2017 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). First Floor. 6pm-8pm.
Fragrance and nut-free space, please! 
For childcare contact [email protected]

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Monthly Feeding Friendzy at Elliot St Fish n Chips to Benefit The Root Social Justice Center
Tuesday, June 13th, 2017 at Elliot Street Fish, Chips, and More! (50 Elliot St, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 
5pm-8pm.

Come on out to support The Root Social Justice Center on Tuesday June 13th from 5-8pm at Elliot Street Fish, Chips & More!
Eat in or take out! 
50% of sales go to The Root!
Funds raised from the evening will go to support The Root Social Justice Center, a local community organization that provides a physically and financially accessible space in Southern VT for social justice groups to meet AND is a hub for racial justice organizing. The Root prioritizes People Of Color leadership and shifting resources to People of Color-led racial justice work. 
For more information, check out: www.therootsjc.org
And a thank you to our friends at Lost River Racial Justice's Fundraising Working Group for supporting this event.

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Small Steps To Save The Planet, Recycling The Rain
Friday, June 16th, 2017 at the Congregational Church of Westminster West (44 Church St., Westminster VT, 05346). 
5pm-6:30pm.
On June 16th Jan Lambert will present a free program on how we manage the rain falling on human-altered landscapes: farms, forests, and developed areas. She has developed a course of study beginning with the presentation June 16th, to be followed by more in-depth monthly workshops every third Friday. This will be an interactive course for community movers and shakers who want to spread the word and the practices!

The first program is free and will include a chance for you to purchase the required text if needed, and also to give her feedback on what you would like to learn more about in depth. These additional courses will stand alone, so you can pick and choose, once you have received the basics through the intro program. The topic of such future programs will be made available to you after the first program, but the first ones will likely be on Michal Kravcik ’s check dam projects, rain gardens, and the like so you can take advantage of the information during the summer. Later, towards the cold season we can get more into the history, science, and philosophy behind the New Water Paradigm. She is asking for a $10 donation for sessions after June 16th. For more info on this course, contact Jan Lambert:  [email protected] 

The Living Earth Action Group meets every Friday  5-6pm at the Congregational Church of  Westminster  West. To receive email notices and newsletters for Living Earth Action Group, contact [email protected]

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 Climate Change Café: A Community of Concerned Citizens
“Council on the Uncertain Human Future”
a project of Post Oil Solutions
Tuesday, June 27th, 2017 at the Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main St, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 6:00pm.
FREE. Light Refreshments Available
For further Information please call 802.869.2141 or email [email protected].

Now more than ever, there is an immense need to stop and listen to one another, to recognize our shared humanity, and to seek cooperative solutions to our collective challenges, especially climate change.
Council is an ancient practice that brings people together into a talking circle for candid and heartfelt conversation. Each person has a voice, speaks from the heart, and all the others listen. Council draws on the life experience and wisdom of all participants to generate new understandings of the problem and new possibilities for solutions. It fosters attentive listening and authentic expression, supporting a deep sense of community and recognition of our interconnectedness as it does so.
By using the Council to consider the full scope of the climate crisis, participants slow down and listen well, to both themselves and others. . Sitting in a circle with heart communication creates connection and acceptance; a more collective consciousness gradually develops. Fears, anger, guilt, despair and other feelings may be experienced, perhaps transformed; new levels of awareness, possibility, and agency may emerge.

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Summer Local Love Brigade Gatherings




Save the Dates: Thursday, July 6th at the Brooks Memorial Library & Sunday, August 13th, at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center

In the meantime, we'll keep sending out postcards to folks that need it. Here are the addresses from past week's incidents. Let's keep the love flowing.
(If you missed the great article in the Commons about the impact the Love Brigade is having, you can check it out here.)


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Save the Date:
Racial Justice Fundraiser 
Saturday, July 29th, 2017 at Super Fresh Organic Cafe (30 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6:30pm-8:30pm.

Live Music

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ONGOING SUMMER EVENTS

Vigil at TD Bank in Montpelier
sponsored by the Upper Valley Affinity Group
The Second Thursday of Each Month Through the Summer and Fall. At the Corner of State and Main Streets in Montpelier, VT. 
11:30am-1pm.

Ride share from Exit 5 off I91N. Departs at 10am. Contact Tim at 802.869.2141 or [email protected],net.
Come and stay as long as you can to peacefully protest TDBank’s huge investments in climate and water destroying pipeline infrastructure.
Urge the State of Vermont and other depositors to close their TDBank accounts.
Support moving swiftly to 100% renewable energy and a state bank for Vermont.
We will be bearing witness and distributing fact sheets about TD's extensive financial support for pipelines.
Bring a sign, bring your friends, bring your neighbors, bring your lunch or just come and join us by yourself.
For more information contact Duncan Nichols at 802.281.2692 or [email protected].

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STANDING REGULAR MEETINGS

350Brattleboro Regular Meetings

1st and 3rd Wednesdays (Leadership Team) in the Brattleboro Food Co-op Community Room (1 Canal Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6pm-8pm.

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SKILLED VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Childcare as a Radical Act: Sign up to Provide Childcare! 

The Family Solidarity Action Network is moving forward with their next big effort to support families in local activism: a collective of folks to provide childcare for local activist meetings or events. If you or someone you know would be able and willing to offer childcare (as a volunteer, or paid) for meetings and events please fill out this spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YGVI8wECe4ZDdghtAG147j7ktwgB_J5ZoWUPkwGrOhM/edit#gid=0

We are looking for people young and old with varying degrees of experience.  Having a large pool of people to call on will make it much easier for organizers to arrange childcare for meetings, allowing for more voices of families with young children to participate in local activism!  We will then be making this list available to other local organizations so we can be sure that childcare doesn't have to be a barrier to participation for anyone. 

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VOLUNTEER AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES

Sister District 

SisterDisrict is an organization that connects you with your local home district team to work on Sister Races in Virginia, Washington State, and Georgia. The goal? To turn Red states Blue. Support these critical races by donating to them and sharing about them on social media.  Or, get in on the fun by joining your local district team for even more action items! 

Here is an update from the Vermont district team:

SisterDistrict Soup

We have made a few changes to our SisterDistrict Soup project and will be offering a monthly soup subscription to benefit either SisterDistrict directly or our current candidate (subscriber's choice). 

Please help us by sharing this link with friends and family who may be interested in subscribing or volunteering to help make or sell soup: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfU1Vv1oJRgTBATJ8TTp8vHUaGFIz0coVCVe28gYVOrK9K-BQ/viewform?c=0&w=1 (NOTE: for more information please email [email protected])

In addition to raising money to help get our nation onto a better trajectory, we are also committed to providing you the most delicious and locally-sourced soup that we can. Vegetarian, gluten- and dairy-free options will be available. There is no reason that you can't eat well and resist at the same time!