Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

“I've found the cure for depression is action.”
-Yvon Chouinard
founder of Patagonia & climate activist

     There are just a couple of new entries this week, Friends, but they are mighty! The Ethiopian Community Development Council is hosting an open house, art exhibition, and reception on Monday, October 17th and it promises to be a day filled with community, joy, and culture. Also new this week, Milk with Dignity has started their Month of Action by gathering to protest at Hannaford in Brattleboro to demand dignified working conditions and and respect for human rights. Grab a sign and join them this Saturday, October 22nd at 3pm. 
     A reminder to our organizers and leaders: get your Fall and Winter events in TODAY to [email protected] Remember: the longer events run in the newsletter, the more chances eyes will have to see it. Thank you for your support, as always, and we look forward to seeing you at an event, meeting, or open house soon! 

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Lean Left Action of the Week

NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Poll Observer recruitment is in full swing. On election day, these are volunteers, along with the Poll Workers, who will protect the vote. These are easy and rewarding calls to dedicated Dems. NH needs 150 to 200 more poll observers to be trained. 

• Read more about these calls here, and then join us on Sunday PowerHour. If you don’t have an  OpenVPB account (the platform used to make these calls), check out this guide. Get up to speed and then join us on Sunday for the PowerHour or make calls on your own. For the phone bank link or assistance, contact Rebecca.

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HAPPENING TODAY,
SUNDAY,OCTOBER 16th, 2022

Share the Harvest Stand
brought to you by Edible Brattleboro
Sunday, October 16th, 2022 at the Corner of Elm Street and Frost Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301. 11am-1pm.
Questions or need a different time to drop off veggies? Email Marilyn at [email protected].
Pick up fresh, local veggies for free! 
Do you have extra veggies from your garden? Drop them off at the stand between 10:30am-11:30am to share with your community!
Vegan/GF Everyone Eats! meals will be available as well, first come, first served.

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HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
MONDAY OCTOBER 17th, 2022-SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23rd, 2022

Vermont Food Bank’s Veggie Van Go Upcoming Schedule
The First and Third Mondays of Every Month in the parking lot across the street from the main entrance to Brattleboro Union High School (131 Fairground Road, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-11am. 
Please, no early birds. 
Questions? Call 1-800-585-2265 or email [email protected] 
Veggie Van Go is a program through the Vermont Foodbank that gives out free produce and local food for people to take home.
ATTENTION: Starting in May, the VT Foodbank asks that participants arrive at the Brattleboro Union High School no earlier than 9:45am. Cars that arrive early will be turned away until the start of the event. 
Monday, October 17th, 2022
Important information:

• Drive through model- please stay in your vehicles
• If you are walking there: see a Vermont Foodbank associate but please make sure to stay 6 feet back.
• There are no income requirements, registration or paperwork to participate
• You do not need to be present to get food: you may ask someone to pick up on your family's behalf.

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Save The Date: Celebrate Vermont’s Refugees with the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC)
Monday, October 17th, 2022 at the Multicultural Community Center (122 Birge Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 11am. 
We would like to cordially invite you to celebrate our first year working together to welcome refugees to Southern Vermont. ECDC would like to invite you to join us for a day to celebrate all of the creations and achievements of our new refugee neighbors after their first year in Vermont.
Refugee resettlement in Southern Vermont began one year ago, when the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) opened the Multicultural Community Center, in partnership with SIT/World Learning, the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation and many community leaders. Among our over 100 Afghan refugees—families, veterans, teachers, craftspeople, lawyers, nurses, cooks, dressmakers and artists. Over the past year, locals & newcomers have begun to know and support each other as neighbors, sharing our languages & cultures, talents & dreams, challenges & joys. Co-sponsorship groups and support teams have been supporting three-quarters of our 2022 arrivals. Newcomers are still busy learning English, while locals have been learning Dari and Pashto. Volunteers have supported an active sewing team of Afghan artists and dressmakers. The community has come together for religious and cultural celebrations, with fun crafts and great food. Southern Vermont’s new Afghan artists and makers are ready to share their creations and achievements from their first year in Vermont.
Please join us for the day of OCTOBER 17 for our MCC open house, pop-up exhibit collaboration, and public reception.

11am-2pm: Open House of our Multicultural Community Center (122 Birge Street) on Monday the 17th & Tuesday the 18th
Come take a tour of our Multicultural Community Center, see a "normal day" in the life of ECDC and meet our staff, students & partners. Since May, our Community Center at 122 Birge Street has provided refugees with their own space to build up connections within the refugee community and with ECDC, its volunteers and partners and the wider Vermont community. MCC hosts World Learning’s ESL courses at all levels as well as activities designed and run by and for refugees, such as cultural orientation, adult workshops, computer classes, children’s summer programming, sewing, fieldtrips and community celebrations. The MCC space provides essential case management services and resources that are accessible and specific to the needs of refugees.

2pm-8pm: Creating community: Brattleboro Museum Pop-up exhibit of our Afghan Creators & ArtLords
Among our over 100 Afghan refugees were five ArtLords, members of an Afghan-led global movement of artivists using the soft power of art for social transformation. The Artlords murals have been celebrated by artists and leaders around the world and displayed at the United Nations. The ArtLords have started several mural projects that reaffirm Brattleboro’s identity as a place of refuge for artists. The ArtLords will arrive at the museum at 2 p.m. to begin creating a large mural-style painting on panels in the Wolf Kahn & Emily Mason Gallery. The exhibit will also feature work by other Afghan refugees who recently arrived in Brattleboro, including handmade kites, a robot built by a robotics expert, and garments made by our sewing team. This one-day pop-up exhibit at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BAMC) will be open to the public from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, October 17, with an ECDC public reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

5pm-6:30pm: ECDC Reception: Celebrating one year together with our new neighbors (Speakers TBC)
5pm: Welcome by Sohaila Nabizada, ECDC MCC Refugee Leadership Coordinator & new VT Representative for Refugee Congress
5:10pm: Dr. Tsehaye Teferra, ECDC President
5:20pm: Adam Grinold, BDCC President
5:25pm: Joel Colony, Vice-President of World Learning
5:30pm: Introduction by BMAC and remarks of Vermont's ArtLords: Abdullah, Marwa, Meetra, Negina & Zuhra
6:00pm: Remarks by our Afghan makers: Nada (Afghan Girls Robotics Team), Kamilla & Abdul Aziz (Vermont Folklife Center Traditional Art Apprentices), Farid (Imam), Massouda (Dari Teacher)
6:15pm: Ed Shapiro, Trustee of Ed Shapiro Foundation
6:20pm: Tracy Dolan, Vermont State Refugee Coordinator Everything we achieved in Vermont, esp. compared to other states
6:25pm: Joe Wiah, Director of ECDC MCC Vermont

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Guilford Cares Food Pantry
Thursday, October 20th, 2022 at the Guilford Fairgrounds (163 Fairground Rd, Guilford, VT 05301). 3pm-4pm. 
If you have questions, concerns or would like to donate groceries or monetary gifts please contact Pat Haine 802-257-0626. For additional questions or more information call 802 579 1350 or email [email protected]. 
Guilford Cares Food Pantry has moved! The Pantry has moved to the First Aid building at the Guilford Fairgrounds. We will be fully stocked with all our usual grocery items.
The Fairgrounds are on Fairground Road, just off Weatherhead Hollow Road. From Guilford Center Road turn onto Weatherhead Hollow Road. Travel 1.7 miles down the road. The Fairgrounds are on the left and there will be a sign directing you up the hill for about .2 miles. The red building is on the left with a sign out in front. Please remain in your car; we’ll greet you,  and give you a shopping list as we have been doing for the past year.
If the Pantry will be closed for any unexpected reason, the closure will be announced on WKVT, WTSA, and Front Porch Forum.
If you cannot come to the Pantry due to illness or high risk, you can call also call Pat to arrange for food delivery by a volunteer.
We know that supplemental food can make such a big difference in one's budget. That is why we are stocking our shelves for our neighbors. All are welcome to come and take home fresh produce, staples, meat, dairy.
Guilford Cares welcomes anyone in need of supplemental food for themselves or their families.

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Root Open House with Y4C Orientation
Saturday, October 22nd, 2022 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), on the First Floor. 12pm.
Together we will share a soul warming meal, and learn about one another and the gifts we can offer to ourselves and our community!
Youth are especially invited for a Youth 4 Change Orientation from our youth leaders!
In addition we are excited to offer some fantastic free prizes and simply spend time with Y.O.U!
Mark your calendars now!

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Milk with Dignity: Month of Action
Saturday, October 22nd, 2022 at Hannaford (896 Putney Rd Unit 5, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 3pm-5pm.
Sunday, October 30th, 2022 at Hannaford (896 Putney Rd Unit 5, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 11am-1pm.
Bring a sign and meet at the Brattleboro Hannaford parking lot entrance. Contact Sarah West with any questions: [email protected] / 802-258-1477.
Join the Milk with Dignity Month of Action to call on Hannaford Supermarket to ensure dignified conditions and respect for human rights!
Five years ago, farmworkers and the CEO of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream stood side-by-side to sign the first Milk with Dignity agreement. Now we call on Hannaford Supermarket to follow in Ben & Jerry's footsteps, urging the grocery chain to take responsibility for labor abuses on the farms behind its store-brand milk.

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Share the Harvest Stand
brought to you by Edible Brattleboro
Sunday, October 23rd, 2022 at the Corner of Elm Street and Frost Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301. 11am-1pm.
Questions or need a different time to drop off veggies? Email Marilyn at [email protected].
Pick up fresh, local veggies for free! 
Do you have extra veggies from your garden? Drop them off at the stand between 10:30-11:30 to share with your community!
Vegan/GF Everyone Eats! meals will be available as well, first come, first served.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Rich Earth Institute’s Open House
Tuesday, November 1st, 2022 at 355 Old Ferry Road in Brattleboro, VT. 8am-2pm.
Wednesday, November 2nd and Thursday, November 3rd, 2022, Online. 
Community members are invited to the Rich Earth Institute’s Open House, Tuesday, November 1st, 2022 from 8am - 2pm. The event will be held on the first day of our three-day Summit, November 1st- 3rd, 2022. Please register HERE to join us for the open house and the rest of the virtual Summit. On November 1st, there will be tours from 8am-11am and at 12pm there will be a keynote titled Pipe Dream to Mainstream: Reporting on the Urine Revolution by Chelsea Wald, who will be presenting remotely from the Netherlands.
Science journalist Chelsea Wald is the author of the book Pipe Dreams: The Urgent Global Quest to Transform the Toilet (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2021) and the Nature feature The urine revolution: how recycling pee could help to save the world (2022). Following her presentation, there will be a discussion moderated by Shawn Shafner of The People’s Own Organic Power (POOP) Project. Other activities at the open house will include: tastings of Rich Earth’s demonstration garden harvest and opportunities to try and purchase urine fertilizer collection devices.

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Solidarity Fridays
Friday, November 4th, 2022, and
Friday, December 2nd, 2022 at Pliny Park (corner of High Street and Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5pm-6pm.
Solidarity Fridays: A collective action focusing on connected global, national, and local outrages. These actions are organized by a coalition of organizations: Brattleboro Solidarity, The Root Social Justice Center, Lost River Racial Justice, Tenants Union of Brattleboro, and 350 Brattleboro. We act with these shared principles: 

• Everyone should have what they need.
• People's lives must be valued over profit.
• All of our struggles are tied together

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Monthly Book Group: Parenting 4 Justice
hosted by Brooks Memorial Library and Parenting for Social Justice; facilitated by Abby Mnookin
Monthly, on Second Wednesdays, at Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6pm-8pm:
Wednesday, November 9th, 2022
Wednesday, December 14th, 2022
Wednesday, January 11th, 2023
Wednesday, February 8th, 2023
Wednesday, March 8th, 2023
Wednesday, April 12th, 2023
Wednesday, May 10th, 2023
Free. Some copies of books are available for loan from the library or they can be purchased at Everyone’s Books or online. To sign up or if you have questions, please email Abby at [email protected]
Dive deep into the topics of Social Justice, Parenting for Social Justice, Parenting for Racial Justice, Parenting for Economic Justice, Parenting for Disability Justice, Parenting for Gender Justice, and Parenting for Collective Liberation. Snacks will be provided and we also hope to offer childcare.

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Community Food Initiatives

Have You Heard of Farm Stand Together?
Find more info and apply here: https://www.farmstandtogethervt.org/
Delicious Food on your Terms in your Community! From their site: 
"We believe that everyone should have access to the delicious foods Vermont farmers are growing and making. 
The Farm Stand Together mutual food aid program will be providing gift cards for use at a small selection of farm stands across Vermont. The program is in trial and access in this first round will be limited. 
Gift cards will work like regular credit cards at participating farm stands, and can be used to purchase any items at the stand. They can be spent all at once or over time."
Buy what you want and need – there are no strings attached to your gift card. Shop at the location that's most accessible to you.
Use your Farm Stand Together gift card to reduce the cost of buying local food.
Buy food grown and produced thoughtfully to provide nutritious – and delicious – food.
Keep Vermont money in the Vermont community. Shop for your groceries from farmers and producers in your own area.

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ONGOING EVENTS

Recovery Families
hosted by Turning Point
Fridays at Turning Point of Windham County Recovery Center (39 Elm Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-11am. 
Young children welcome!
Join other caregivers for connection and support of your own recovery journey or that of someone you love. 

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Taking Steps Brattleboro, a program of Brattleboro Area Hospice is offering Advance Care Planning Weekly Zoom Information Sessions on Wednesdays from 10am-11am.
If you are interested in attending the Zoom info session, or want more information about Advance Care Planning, please contact Ruth Nangeroni, Advance Care Planning Program Coordinator at 802-257-0775 ext 101 or [email protected]
Advance care planning ensures that your loved ones and health professionals know what you  want in a medical emergency when you are unable to speak for yourself. It’s a process of creating a written health care plan(advance directive) that tells others what you would want if you couldn’t tell them yourself.
Advance Care Planning includes discussing choices about end-of-life (EOL) care with your medical provider, family and others. It involves choosing and educating your Health Care Agent and making informed decisions to complete an Advance Directive. Join us and learn more. Find out if adding a COVID-19 or Dementia provision would be beneficial to include or add to a previously completed Advance Directive.
Brattleboro Area Hospice (BAH) is an independent, non-profit organization that provides non-medical support to dying and grieving community members and volunteer-staffed assistance with Advance Care Planning. BAH is 100% locally funded, and provides services free of charge. Services are available to anyone living in southeastern Vermont or bordering New Hampshire towns.
Advance Care Planning: It’s how people care for one another.

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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES

Winter Farmers' Market: Call for Vendors
Vendor applications are now being accepted for the 17th season of the Brattleboro Winter Farmers' Market. Our mission is to support sustainable agriculture by providing a viable winter-season direct market outlet for local community-based farms while building community and promoting regional sustainability.  
The Winter Market will open for the 2022-23 season on Saturday November 5th and will operate through March 25, 2023.  Weekly market hours are 10 am to 2 pm.  
A wide array of products are typically offered including locally grown and produced fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, baked goods, handcrafted items such as clothing, jewelry, pottery, soaps, lunch menus and more.  Preference is given to regional agricultural vendors, particularly those bringing new unduplicated products to market. 
This is a juried market.  New vendors or returning vendors with new craft, prepared food or value-added products will need to complete a jury process.
The Market’s sustainability mission places an emphasis on local sourcing for prepared foods sold at the market meaning that our prepared food vendors are expected to feature ingredients sourced from local and regional growers and producers. 
The Brattleboro Winter Farmers' Market is a project of Post Oil Solutions, a grassroots citizen sustainability group based in Windham County, VT.  Our goal is to raise awareness about sustainable practices for our homes, neighborhoods, and larger communities, and help create the infrastructure needed in our region as we deal with our changing climate.  The creation of a community-based food system is a critical component of that infrastructure.
If you are interested in the upcoming Winter Farmers' Market season, we urge you to send in an application soon.  The application and market policy information can be found at www.brattleborowinterfarmersmarket.org.  For more information call Sherry at (802) 275-2835 or send an email to f[email protected].
Sherry Maher
Co-Manager
Brattleboro Winter Farmers' Market 
802-275-2835
a project of
Post Oil Solutions
www.postoilsolutions.org

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Endorse Vermont’s Reproductive Liberty Amendment
Have questions? Please contact Charlie Gliserman, Policy & Prop 5 Campaign Manager at [email protected] or (802) 338-6811.
The Reproductive Liberty Amendment, previously Prop 5, will be a ballot measure in Vermont's 2022 General Election. If passed, it would amend Vermont's constitution to protect every person's right to make their own reproductive decisions, like whether and when to become pregnant, use temporary or permanent birth control, or seek abortion care. 
An endorsement is a public statement of support for the Reproductive Liberty Amendment, which may be featured on the Vermont for Reproductive Liberty website (reprolibertyvt.org) and its campaign communications. 
An endorsement is a powerful way to show Vermont that you or your organization is proud to support the Reproductive Liberty Amendment. Join us in this campaign, powered by and for Vermonters, to protect reproductive freedom for all.
You can find the endorsement form HERE.

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The Village Closet
on the Wintson Prouty Campus (60 Austine Drive, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), in Croker Hall.
Open Wednesdays from 4pm-6pm and Saturdays from 10am-12pm, or
by appointment. For more information, please email [email protected]
Your source for free baby, children, and pregnancy clothing/items. Donations of gently used items accepted. We are collecting new and "like new" children's coats and winter gear for our Kids in Coats partnership with United Way of Windham County.  If you have items to donate, please stop by today if you are able!
On Wednesdays, Everyone Eats will be distributing free dinners on campus from 3:30pm-4:30pm.

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FREE HEALTHY AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD IN WINDHAM COUNTY

Brigid’s Kitchen, St. Michael’s Church, 47 Walnut Street, Brattleboro 802-254-6800 or 802-558-6072 
Grab-and-go lunches and fruit/nuts on Mon, Weds, Thus, and Sat, 11:30am-12:20pm.

Loaves and Fishes, Centre Congregational Church 193 Main Street, Brattleboro (802) 254-4730
Grab-and-go lunches on Tuesdays and Fridays at 12pm.

VT Foodbank and Veggie Van Go will be at Brattleboro Union High School (Fairground Ave, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), in the parking lot, on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month, from 10am-11am. Drive up, touchless pickup. Walkers welcome, too. Call VT 211 for more information. 

Foodworks, the food shelf program of the Groundworks Collaborative https://groundworksvt.org (802) 490-2412, [email protected] 
Foodworks has open hours for curbside pickup on Mondays 11am-4pm, Wednesdays 1pm-6pm, Fridays 12pm-4pm, last Saturday of each month from 9am-12pm. Deliveries are available onTuesdays across Windham county. Please email [email protected] or call 802-490-2412 with any questions!
Households in need of food are asked to call or email to coordinate delivery. There is an urgent need for volunteers, and Foodworks has set up protocols to keep staff, volunteers, and clients as safe as possible. Please email us at [email protected] if you are able to help.

Marlboro Community Food Share
hosted by the Marlboro Community Center
Wednesday 10am-2pm; Thursday 10am-5pm; Friday 10am-12pm; Saturday 10am-12pm at the Marlboro Community Center (524 South Road, Marlboro, VT, 05344). 
The Marlboro Community Center invites you to fill a bag with non-perishable grocery items. Food is set up in the main space and is available during our open hours. Eggs and produce on Thursdays as available. No registration or eligibility required. Deliveries can be made through Marlboro Cares for those needing assistance. Please call Marlboro Cares at 258-3030 in advance to arrange a delivery.
To donate food:
Leave non-perishable food in the donation box at the Marlboro Post Office. It will be collected on a weekly-basis. (Please note that this box previously supplied the Deerfield Valley Food Pantry, which is now distributing food exclusively from VT Food Pantry) 
Gardeners and farmers are welcome to donate produce. Wear masks and wash hands when harvesting and handling food. Fresh produce can be dropped off at the Community Center on Thursday between 1pm and 4pm. (Any leftover produce will be taken to FoodWorks the following morning)

Guilford Food Pantry 
Every Thursday at the Guilford Fairgrounds. 5pm-6pm.
We know that supplemental food can make such a big difference in one's budget. That is why we are stocking our shelves for our neighbors. All are welcome to come and take home fresh produce, staples, meat, dairy. Guilford Cares welcomes anyone in need of supplemental food for themselves or their families.

Putney Foodshelf Weekly Open Hours 
Fridays at Christian Square, Putney, VT, 05346. 1:30pm-3:30pm.
Saturdays at Christian Square, Putney, VT, 05346. 9am-10:30am. (NEW HOURS!)
We also have a food drop at the Putney Meadows parking lot every 4th Thursday, from 9am-9:45am.
Message us on our FB page HERE, call 802.387.8551, or email [email protected] with questions. www.putneyfoodshelf.org
Curbside Open Hours. All are welcome - we just ask you to provide your town of residence and number in household for our data tracking purposes.
Stay in your car, please. Volunteers will take your order and bring out boxes of food, including nonperishable items, fresh produce, paper goods, meat, and dairy products.

Everyone Eats continues, including grab-and-go meals at these times and locations: 

• There is no longer an Everyone Eats distribution at Turning Point on Sundays, as Edible Brattleboro is dormant in the winter.
• The meals at Retreat Farm are stocked in their farm stand for pick up anytime, first come first serve. We are planning to stock on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Folks receiving services through Foodworks, Loaves and Fishes, and the Brattleboro Community Justice Center can obtain free meals through those organizations.
You can also order Everyone Eats! meals directly from participating restaurants using the Localvore App.

Our Place Drop-In Center at 4 Island Street, Bellows Falls, VT, 05101. Call us at 802-463-2217 for assistance. Email at [email protected] Please wear a mask to keep our employees and yourself safe.
Hours of Operation:
Monday-Wednesday: 8:30am-4pm
Thursday: 8:30am-1pm
Friday: 8:30am-4pm
Saturday and Sunday: Closed
Our Place Drop-In Center operates a food pantry and meal site where they serve breakfast with to-go meals that are ready for pickup by 9am. Lunch is ready by 11:30am. 
Everyone is welcome to stop by to get a meal. At this time we are allowing only employees in the building.

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ADDITIONAL COVID 19 RESOURCES CAN BE FOUND AT THEIR PERMANENT HOME ON OUR WEBSITE, HERE: https://www.wecantogether.net/covid19_resources

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RESOURCE FOR WeCAN

Rapid Response Text Alert System

When WeCAN began, Song & Solidarity set up a Rapid Response Text Alert System for WeCAN Groups. Directions for signing up are on WeCAN's website, here: https://www.wecantogether.net/rapid_response. We are grateful to Song and Solidarity for providing this service.

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ONGOING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING 

Indigo Radio
Sundays at 1pm on Brattleboro Community Radio 107.7FM. To stream live, visit: www.wvew.org 
Indigo Radio, deepening understanding and making connections! IndigoRadio is a group of area educators seeking to learn through engaging with others in our community and throughout the world. We will be talking about educational and social issues both globally and locally and connecting them to our lives and Brattleboro community. Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indigoradiowvew/. For archive recordings of past shows: https://soundcloud.com/user-654648353. 

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Updated Covid boosters are now available through Rescue Inc and local pharmacies, WeCAN community! We encourage you to stay up to date if you are able. Be safe and stay healthy! 

Your Friendly WeCAN Editor,

Joanna