Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

“Our liberty is predicated on the idea that we can choose how to move forward with our health care and our family planning. And our pursuit of happiness has everything to do with and when and how to bring life into this world. So many of us want that opportunity. This is enshrining health care and the right to choose for all Vermonters.”
Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale, a Democrat representing the Chittenden District, on VT Proposal 5

     We hope you are enjoying a restorative weekend, WeCAN Friends, and are getting some much needed rest and relaxation. When you're ready to lend your talents and time to a cause this week, there are plenty to choose from! In addition, we would like to remind you that, once again, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments that may undo fundamental reproductive rights in the USA. To combat this at the local level, we urge you to read up on VT Proposal 5*, the proposed amendment to the Vermont constitution to guarantee the right to personal reproductive liberty for ALL Vermonters. Prop 5 must be passed by two consecutive legislatures before going to Vermont voters on election day in November 2022. Previously, it was passed by the state Senate in Spring of 2019. 
     If Prop 5 is passed, Vermont will be the first state in the country to explicitly protect reproductive liberty in its constitution. It's very important that a majority of Vermonters vote YES on Prop 5 on Election Day in November 2022. Fill out this form to show your support for reproductive liberty in Vermont, and Planned Parenthood will keep you posted on the latest updates and action items. To volunteer for the Planned Parent Action Fund, please check out their website HERE.
     Thank you and we hope to see your masked, smiling faces at an event soon! 

*https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-vermont-action-fund/prop-5

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What does Prop 5 say? Here is how the language will appear on the ballot in the voting booth:
  
 

What does Prop 5 protect? 

Who supports Prop 5 in the legislature?

What is the timeline for Prop 5?

Prop 5 FAQ Sheet:

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HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
MONDAY, DECEMBER 6th, 2021-SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12th, 2021

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. 
Veggie Van Go is a program through the Vermont Foodbank that gives out free produce and local food for people to take home.
December 6th, 2021
December 20th, 2021
January 3rd, 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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Mindfulness Practice in the Apocalypse
hosted by The Root Social Justice Center
Tuesday, December 7th, 2021 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5:30pm-7pm.
Participants should wear a mask and comfortable clothing, and bring water, snacks, cushions or anything that they need to support their body and wellbeing.
Jabari S. Jones (they/them/y'all) is a Black, queer, nonbinary resident on unceded Abenaki land in southern Vermont. They facilitate mindfulness practice and follow the teachings of Radical Dharma. They've most recently begun a career in farming to care for the earth and grow food that is culturally celebrated by BIPOC/Global-Majority peoples. At this workshop entitled: ”MINDFULNESS PRACTICE IN THE APOCALYPSE”
Jabari will address how globally and locally, we are all affected by interconnected crises that are ecological, social, political, economic and spiritual in nature. Navigating and surviving these crises is stressful, sometimes traumatic, making it difficult to be present, take care of ourselves and others, and address the causes of our suffering. What do we need in order to respond to this overwhelming situation? Mindfulness practice is anything that helps us bring our attention back to the present moment and connect with what is most important. Through mindfulness practice, you can navigate the crises by returning to your body, your breath, your truth. Inspired and informed by traditional mindfulness techniques and Western science-based evidence, facilitator Jabari S. Jones will hold space for a conversation and practice experience. Participants will walk away with tools they can use anywhere to meet challenges with curiosity and compassion, and to be in a place of connection, choice and liberation. Come as you are.

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Windham County Child Care Legislative Event
hosted by the Windham County’s Let’s Grow Kids Action Team
Wednesday, December 8th, 2021, Online. 6pm-7:30pm.
For more information, please contact Emily Wagner [email protected]
To register, please go to: https://letsgrowkids.org/events/windham-county-child-care-legislator-event-virtual-meeting-1568
Join the Windham County Let’s Grow Kids Action Team for a virtual conversation with Windham County Legislators and community members about child care.  Together we can work towards a future in which all children have equitable access to the early childhood education opportunities they need for a strong start in life, families are able to work and thrive, and early childhood educators receive appropriate wages and benefits for their essential work.  Register to join us on Zoom on the 8^th! 

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Marlboro Community Food Share
hosted by the Marlboro Community Center
Thursday, December 9th, 2021, at the Marlboro Community Center (524 South Road, Marlboro, VT, 05344). 5pm-6pm. 
Every Thursday from 4:30pm-5:30pm the Marlboro Community Center invites you to fill a grocery bag with non-perishables and fresh local produce. No registration or eligibility required. This weekly opportunity is available for anyone who could use an extra bag of groceries or knows someone who does.
Food will be set up in the entry-way to the Marlboro Community Center. For proper social distancing, please enter one person at a time. Bring a grocery bag or use ours. Masks are required. Deliveries will be made through Marlboro Cares for those needing assistance. Please call Marlboro Cares at 802-258-3030 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)

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Guilford Cares FoodPantry
Thursday, December 9th, 2021 at the Guilford Fairgrounds (163 Fairground Rd, Guilford, VT 05301). 5pm-6pm.  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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Brattleboro Winter Farmers’ Market 
a project of Post Oil Solutions
Saturday, December 11th, 2021 at the C.F. Church Building (80 Flat Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-2pm.
For info email Sherry at [email protected], call 802-275-2835, or visit us at www.brattleborowinterfarmersmarket.org. 
Weekly indoor farmers market, creating community and boosting food security every week.  
All locally grown and made: farm produce, meats, syrup, fresh baked goods, cheeses, fruits, cider, preserves, handmade jewelry, pottery, soaps and more. 
Accepting credit, debit and EBT. Crop Cash + Food Boost turns $10 EBT into $30 every week. 

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Community Ritual for Covid 19: Jin Hi Kim
Saturday, December 11th, 2021 at Epsilon Spires (190 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 8pm-10pm.
For tickets please go to: www.epsilonspires.org/event-info/jin-hi-kim-ritual-for-covid-19
An immersive performance for healing created by electric komungo performer and Guggenheim Composer Fellow, Jin Hi Kim. This sublime and interactive work is inspired by Korean Shamanistic ssitkimkut ritual to purify the spirits of the deceased while releasing the grief of the living.
If the admission price is an obstacle for you to attend, please let us know and we will add you to the guest list. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
"Her unique vision blends science fiction images, state-of-the-art technology, ancient mythology and timeless music and dance traditions. No other artist is doing work quite like this, and she does it with superb style." 
-Joseph McLellan, The Washington Post
“The solitude and strength in Jin Hi’s work sets us on an unexpected journey" -Marcie Hershman, Rebecca Blunk Fund Award
A Ritual for Covid-19 was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts' New Work New England program, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Seedlings Foundation, the Fund for the Arts at NEFA, and individual donors. This project is supported by the Rebecca Blunk Fund, in memory of Rebecca Blunk (1953-2014), celebrating her 29 years of service to NEFA and her abiding passion for the arts.
Additional Support by the Korea Foundation Arts and Cultural Exchange Program, and Artist Fellowship Award through the Artist Fellowship program from the Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA). 

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Red Cross Blood Drive at the Winston Prouty Campus
Saturday, December 18th, 2021 at the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development (Austine Drive, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9am-3pm. To help make these events possible by volunteering, please contact Lisa Whitney at [email protected].
Winston Prouty and the American Red Cross are hosting monthly blood drives throughout 2021.The Red Cross has over 135 years of experience providing humanitarian aid including more than 75 years of supplying blood to those in need. Each pint of blood we collect can help save up to three lives and will touch the lives of so many more. What a great way to pay it forward and make an impact on people in our community and across the country.
You can participate by donating blood or by volunteering to help support the event (set-up/clean-up, registration, parking, etc).
Sign up to DONATE blood here:
https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=

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Brattleboro Queer Dance Party Returns!
Saturday, December 18th, 2021 at The Stone Church (210 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9pm-1am.
For tickets, please go to: www.venuepilot.co/events/45417/orders/new
Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test administered by a health professional within 48 hrs will be required for entry & mask must be worn at all times while inside the venue.
Brattleboro Queer Dance Party is back and ready to dance the night away live and in person with DJ Xero spinning all night long.
DJ Xero (she/her) is a trans woman who has worked throughout New England for 15+ years and spun over 350 individual nightclubs events. She has been spinning a variety of weekly dance music events online at twitch.tv/XandraXero during 18+ consecutive months of the Covid pandemic, including a monthly fundraising event called "TRANS DANS" that has raised nearly 11,000 for many trans specific and queer charities. She debuted with BQDP for All Hallows Eve 2019 and has eagerly awaited returning to Vermont to spin for you again! XXX
The intention of the BQDP space is to be safe, open, and accepting.

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Coffee with Coffey Hours
Tuesday, December 21st, 2021, Online. 6:30pm-7:30pm.
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87653733300?pwd=c0pDdk9EcHJKUnUzQjY0cm0wbEw3Zz09
Communication with my constituents is a high priority for me, especially as we prepare for the 2022 session. I want you to know what I'm working on and I want to hear from you. I encourage folks to join me at one of my monthly coffee hours. I will be holding coffee hours on third Tuesday of the month.
If you would to receive my newsletters or have questions about the legislation we passed in 2021 or to talk about your priorities for 2022 please email me at: [email protected] 
Your feedback is critical to my legislative work, so please do not hesitate to reach out anytime. 
Take good care,
Sara Coffey
State Representative, Windham-1

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A Silent Christmas Vigil of Loving Kindness
Friday December 24th, 2021 at Wells Fountain (298-250 VT-30, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 12pm-1pm.
For further information and to be on the mailing list for future vigils, please contact Tim Stevenson, [email protected].
Under a banner that reads, “Holding a Space of Loving Kindness for All Living Beings,” we will conduct a silent vigil on Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24 @ Wells Fountain across from Brooks Library and the Municipal Building, downtown Brattleboro
Our purpose is to serve as a living reminder of the inherent goodness of each of us, as well as our inextricable connection with one another.
For a few minutes or the entire hour, all are welcome to join us in extending sentiments of loving kindness to all living beings: to family and friends, neighbors and strangers, kindred spirits and adversaries, human and non-human beings, alike. And to ourselves, as well. People may choose to stand, kneel, or sit in a chair they bring (there are stone benches circling the Fountain).

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COMING IN 2022

Lucy Terry Price: Witness, Voice, and Poetics within the American Tradition
presented by Vermont Humanities
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022, Online. 7pm.
Register for this talk at www.vermonthumanities.org/stjohnsbury
Beginning with Vermonter Lucy Terry Prince, the first known African American poet in the US, poet Shanta Lee Gander explores creative lineage within poetics. Surveying the work of Phillis Wheatley, Laurence Dunbar, Rita Dove, and slam poet Dominique Christina, Gander considers the poetic arc from the past to the modern moment. 

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The Poetics of Girlhood and Womanhood in America
presented by Vermont Humanities
Wednesday, April 6th, 2022, at Brooks Memorial Library (54 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 7pm.
Poets and writers Diana Whitney and Shanta Lee Gander join Christal Brown, associate professor of Dance at Middlebury College, in a conversation that explores how girlhood and womanhood in America are manifested across the boundaries of poetry, dance, and lived experience.

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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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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES

The Expanded GA Motel Housing Began A Few Days Early! That means that if you are unhoused with no where to go and meet income eligibility of below 185% of the poverty line, and have less than $2250 in savings, you now qualify for motel housing through March 1st.

Even if you were denied before and recently.
Even if you took the $2500 buy out.
Even if you were kicked out in July or since.
Even if you were told you don't qualify.

Eligibility has been expanded for the GA Motel Program! Even if you were denied before you likely qualify! Today through weekend call 211 if you are unhoused & have no where to go.
Beginning Monday call Economic Services during business hours 8am-4:30pm and 211 after business hours.

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In Home Covid 19 Vaccines and Boosters

If you are homebound and not able to leave your home for medical services, you can get your COVID-19 vaccination and booster in your home. Call your local home health agency or 802-863-7240 to schedule an appointment. www.healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine

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Covid 19 Pop-Up Testing

Brattleboro
417 Canal St.
Tue, Wed, Thur, Sat 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Testing is available for all. 
If you need testing, there are a variety of options available to you: your primary care provider, pop-up test sites and pharmacies. The Test Site Finder below can help you find other testing near you.
HEALTH DEPARTMENT POP-UP TESTING LOCATIONS
Here are the steps to set up a testing appointment at a pop-up testing site:

• Register to get an account
• Receive an email with your patient ID and use that to confirm your account (check your spam folder if you don't see the email)
• Log in with your patient ID
• Set up an appointment

Register for Pop-Up Testing 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] 
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.

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.

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 in December.

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.

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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 12pm 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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 Covid masking rules may have changed in your town, friends. We encourage you to mask up amongst our community members while indoors and in large crowds outdoors. Thank you! 

Your Friendly WeCAN Editors,

Joanna and Sam