Weekly Email Update 6.7.21

Weekly Email Update 6.7.21

“Most important, when it comes to representation, is how our identities show up in humanity and community; we can never silo someone into a singular identity. Being trans is just one piece of who I am, and yet having that experience and bringing it into the House is what allowed for such swift passage (of this Bill), really affirming the rights all Vermonters should have.”
Representative Taylor Small (P/D-Winooski)
in reference to Bill H.128, which prevents the use of the legal strategy that says a crime was justified because of someone’s identity or sexual orientation

 
    Happy LGBTQIA2+ Pride month, WeCAN Friends! This month we will be celebrating all things LGBTQIA2+ in Windham County, so please send in any content you wish to share (projects, events, initiatives, resources, etc.) to [email protected] and we will be sure to feature it in an upcoming Weekly Email Update this month. 
    This week we are highlighting some of the fantastic resources that are available to Windham County and Vermont residents. As Covid 19 may have changed some of the details of these resources, please check with the resource directly to ensure their offerings are current and accurate. 

Vermont Diversity Health Project (VDHP) (https://www.pridecentervt.org/programs/health/vdhp/): The Vermont Diversity Health Project (VDHP) exists to improve the health and wellness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Vermonters by building bridges between healthcare providers and LGBTQ people throughout the state.

Planned Parenthood Brattleboro (https://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-center/vermont/brattleboro/05301/brattleboro-health-center-2658-91770/lgbtq): Brattleboro Health Center offers the following services specifically for clients who identify as LGBTQ such as education, Hormone Replacement Therapy, resources, services referral, and PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis). All LGBTQIA2+ services are available during all business hours by appointment. 

Out in the Open (https://www.weareoutintheopen.org): Connecting rural LGBTQ people to build community, visibility, knowledge, and power. We envision a resilient community of communities that works toward the transformation of our economic, social, and political relationships. We are building a multi-issue social justice movement of rural LGBTQ people.

AIDS Project of Southern VT (http://www.aidsprojectsouthernvermont.org): The AIDS Project of Southern Vermont is a regional AIDS service organization providing direct services to people living with HIV/AIDS and prevention services to those at most risk in Windham, Bennington, and southern Windsor counties. Founded by volunteers in 1988 as a grassroots, community based group, the AIDS Project fills an important statewide role in making sure that Vermont’s fight against the AIDS epidemic is strong and effective.

VT Dept of Health LGBTQIA2+ Community (https://www.healthvermont.gov/interest-groups/lgbtq-community): We work for every body. Find health and wellness information and resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Vermonters.

Outright Vermont Windham County Resources (http://www.outrightvt.org/mental-health-resource-guide/windham-county/): LGBTQIA2+ friendly health care providers. 


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HAPPENING TODAY, SUNDAY, JUNE 6th, 2021

Weekly Community Conversation with Rep. Emilie Kornheiser
Sunday, June 6th, 2021, Online. 11am.
Please sign up in advance for this meeting and we’ll send you an email with the zoom link. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtce-grD4rGNxo9FEE3R8zKpRSj_qBTz03
Emilie Kornheiser, State Representative for Windham 2-1, invites you to join her weekly community conversations: every Sunday at 11am. We’ll talk about what’s happening in the legislature and in our town. Open conversation format-- come for the full hour or just stop by for a few minutes to share a particular concern or question.

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HAPPENING THIS WEEK, MONDAY, JUNE 7th, 2021-SUNDAY, JUNE 13th, 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-11:30am. 
Veggie Van Go is a program through the Vermont Foodbank that gives out free produce and local food for people to take home.
Monday, June 7th, 2021
Monday, June 21st, 2021
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.

For questions, please contact the WSESU VVG Program Coordinator:
Kira Sawyer-Hartigan, WSESU
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 
[email protected]
(802)254-3730

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Everyone Eats! 
Monday, June 7th, 2021-Thursday, June 10th, 2021 at the C.F Building (80 Flat Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 4pm-6pm. Masks required. PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE EARLY.  If you have any questions visit https://www.brattleboro.com/everyoneeats/ or contact Frances Huntley [email protected]. Organizational ordering information is listed under our Free and Nutritious Food in Windham County section further along in this email. 
Everyone Eats! is a program which will distribute meals from Brattleboro restaurants to anyone in need who lives in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, or Vernon, free of charge, through December 11th. There will be 850+ meals/day available Monday through Thursday to serve our community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pick up for individuals will be at the C.F. Church Building at 80 Flat St in Brattleboro and group/institution orders can be picked up at Mama Sezz in West Brattleboro. All meals are available Monday-Thursday between 4pm and 6pm until supplies run out.
If you have extra produce from your garden, there will be a wheelbarrow you can drop it off in on your way out of the pickup site. Participating restaurants will use the donated produce in making more meals.
The meals are free, but if you would like to make a monetary contribution to help make more meals possible for others, it will be gratefully received. The base cost of each meal is $10 but any amount will be appreciated.
Each restaurant will contribute meals two or more days a week. You will receive one individually packaged cold ready-to-eat or heat & serve dinner for each person you request a meal for. Meals will be distributed cold, so if you are driving a distance, delivering to other households, or distributing through your organization, consider bringing a cooler if you can.

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Windham County Democrats Monthly Meeting
Monday, June 7th, 2021, Online. 6:30pm.
Register for the Zoom link at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrdeihqTkuGdbT2n0t5R2DSzDa5qU-P7Bv.
Our meetings are open to the public and we welcome new ideas and perspectives.
This month's guest speaker will be Jennie Gartner, the new Director of Party Affairs and Outreach at the Vermont Democratic Party. She will be introducing herself and sharing her ideas about town and county committee reorganization in preparation for the 2022 election. We will also be celebrating the end of a very successful legislative session for our Windham County delegation.
Meetings of the Windham County Democrats bring together delegates representing the 22 towns of Windham County.

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Planting Day at The Root Social Justice Center with Edible Brattleboro
Wednesday, June 9th, 2021 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Arts Building, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), in the Parking Lot. 8:30am-10:30am.

Join volunteers from Edible Brattleboro and the Root Social Justice Center to plant the Help-Yourself container garden at the Root. The garden is located in the parking lot along the Whetstone Brook. 

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Marlboro Community Food Share
hosted by the Marlboro Community Center
Thursday, June 10th, 2021, and every Thursday, at the Marlboro Community Center (524 South Road, Marlboro, VT, 05344). 4:30pm-5:30pm.
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 Food Pantry
Thursday, June 10th, 2021 (and every Thursday) 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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Solidarity Fridays
Friday, June 11th, 2021, Pliny Park (corner of High Street and Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5pm-6pm. Please observe Covid 19 safety protocols and social distancing. Brattleboro Coalition contact: [email protected]
You may have seen the Solidarity Friday demonstrations on the Pliny Park corner that began last Summer and continued into the Fall. In-person actions were paused due to COVID restrictions, but we continued meeting via Zoom, learning about our shared concerns and building our coalition. In the ongoing work to gain more participation in and deepen the understanding of our actions, the involved organizations wanted to explain our purpose for Solidarity Fridays in preparation for starting again. 
Four Brattleboro-based organizations - Brattleboro Solidarity, The Root Social Justice Center, Lost River Racial Justice, and The Tenants Union of Brattleboro came together last summer during the Black Lives Matter uprisings. Later, we were joined by 350 Brattleboro, the VT Debt Collective, Youth 4 Change, and Out in the Open (supporting remotely). Together, we recognized that, while we were witnessing the streets come alive across the country against police brutality, the streets must stay alive in order to enact the level of broad changes across struggles that are urgently needed - for humans, animals, and the planet. 
The coalition acts with these shared principles:  

  1. Everyone should have what they need. 
  2. People’s lives over profit. 
  3. All of our struggles are tied together. 

We believe that the basic necessities for a healthy life are non-negotiable. There is no excuse for hunger, homelessness, or death from curable diseases anywhere in the world. All of our struggles are tied together. We believe that the struggle for Black liberation and against police brutality and racism is also a struggle against the exploitation of poor working people. We see how those with power benefit from the divisions that they sow amongst us. We acknowledge and address our diverse struggles while we assert that we have more commonalities than differences. We are stronger together.
We are on the street on Fridays because we believe that being united in our struggles is important in paving a new path forward. We choose not to fight against or react to those who disagree with us, but rather invite them to talk with us so that we may find our common interests and beliefs. Being on the streets together raises our spirits, breaks isolation, and helps build a network of people who want to do this work together. We invite you to join us weekly on Fridays to make connections - both with other people and between struggles! - and to take a stand for a more just world.

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Putney Foodshelf Weekly Open Hours
Saturday, June 12th, 2021, at 10 Christian Square, Putney, VT, 05346. 9am-11am.
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.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Parenting for Liberation Virtual Chat Series
hosted by Parenting 4 Racial Justice
Tuesday, June 15th, 2021
Tuesday, June 29th, 2021
Tuesday, July 6th, 2021, Online. 7pm-8:30pm.
You can reserve your spot in the series by signing up for the event at https://www.eventbrite.com/.../parenting-for-liberation-a...
Join Amber and Angela and a group of parents to share joys and challenges of parenting for social and healing justice. We'll hold space for grief, laughter, ideas and resource sharing, begin to practice somatic embodied skills, and heal together. We are all carrying so much, let's support each other in making the load lighter and building the resilience and resources necessary to parent in a way that aligns our actions with our embodied values.
We recommend coming to all three sessions, but welcome people to sign up if they can come to at least two sessions. 
Our cost is $0-$100 per week, sliding scale. To choose what you will pay please see our sliding scale guide (https://docs.google.com/.../1apg7.../edit...). We value EVERYTHING each person brings to the workshop, not just financial support. AND: we gotta get paid to keep putting on workshops. We do a lot of unpaid racial justice and healing work, and facilitating these workshops is our paid work. We charge using a sliding scale. It isn’t a perfect way to correct for the unfair, harmful economic system we live in, but it’s a start.
This chat series is limited to 20 participants. Register today at https://www.eventbrite.com/.../parenting-for-liberation-a...
We hope to see you at this chat series. If you are interested, and can't make it to these dates, let us know so we can get another series scheduled soon.
For justice! For healing! For liberation!

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A Silent Vigil of Loving Kindness
Wednesday, June 16th, 2021 at Wells Fountain (298-250 VT-30, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 4:30pm-5:30pm. Please mask and observe appropriate distancing. 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 conduct a silent vigil on alternating Wednesdays and Thursdays, every other week, 4:30pm-5:30pm, at Wells Fountain across from Brooks Library and the Municipal Building, in 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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Abenaki Heritage Weekend
co-hosted by Vermont Abenaki Artists Association and Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, with support from: New England Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts Vermont Humanities Council
Wednesday, June 16th, 2021-Sunday, June 20th, 2021, Online. 7pm-8:30pm.
More details coming soon. We invite you to contact us with specific questions and comments. Email [email protected] or call 802-579-0049 after 5pm.
A 5-day FREE virtual celebration of Abenaki heritage. Meet Abenaki culture bearers and gain a richer experience and understanding of the Abenaki contribution to life in the Champlain Valley. Enjoy conversations and demonstrations with artists from participating tribes who invite you to share their indigenous arts, traditions, stories, language, and more.
Register in advance for Zoom sessions that will be announced shortly.
Sessions themed for all ages, with special programs for young audiences Pre-K to Grade 2, Grades 4 and up.
June 16, 7 pm - Wampum Reading (Info below)
June 17, 7 pm - Abenaki Pottery
June 18, 7 pm - TBA
June 19, 1 pm- Abenaki Games
June 20, 1 pm - Abenaki Music and Crafts

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The Wabanaki Wampum Laws: A Reading and Interpretation
hosted by the VT Abenaki Artists Association and Abenaki Arts & Education Center
Wednesday, June 16th, 2021, Online. 7pm-8:45pm.
Free, donations appreciated. To register, please go to: https://forms.gle/xw2Hx9JMA5sNQwmL6
*You will recieve a confirmation message and a reminder email the day before the event.
Virtual Abenaki Heritage Weekend presents The Wabanaki Wampum Laws: A reading and interpretation with Frederick M. Wiseman, Ph. D. Immediately following Zoom screening, Dr. Wiseman will join VAAA Director Vera Sheehan for a live Q & A and discussion (concluding at 8:45pm).
The program begins with a screening of Wiseman interpreting an important wampum belt that brought together many Native American Nations and explains diplomatic protocols that are still in use today. This is followed by an explanation of the role of wampum in diplomatic relationships and communications between members of the Great Council Fire and the Iroquois Confederacy, alliances of Native nations that extended from the Atlantic coast to lands beyond the Great Lakes.
Frederick M. Wiseman, Ph. D. is a member of Vermont Abenaki Artists Association (VAAA) and received their first Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. Scholar, activist, and diplomat, Wiseman is Director of the Vermont Indigenous Heritage Center at the Burlington Intervale; Abenaki Delegate to the Wobanaki Confederacy since 1990; and Seven Nations (Canada) Wampum Keeper since 2004.
NOTE: This program will be recorded by VAAA/AAEC and the resulting products will be published on the Abenaki Arts & Education YouTube channel.
Image Description: Abenaki artist, diplomat, and scholar Fred Wiseman standing holding up a wampum belt while presenting a Wampum reading and interpretation at the Abenaki Heritage Weekend. Photo courtesy of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.
Photo courtesy of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.

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Hearing to Rename Negro Brook
Thursday, June 17th, 2021, Online. 10am-12pm.

Zoom Links and Agenda will be published in the future and found here: https://libraries.vermont.gov/about_us/board
The second hearing for our petition to rename Negro Brook to Susanna Toby Brook.
Learn a bit about Susanna nee Toby Huzzy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1oPvMd2jcI&t=12s

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Official GHETTOCLAUSTROPHOBIA Book Launch with Shanta Lee Gander
hosted by Antidote Books
Friday, June 18th, 2021 at Antidote Books (120 Main Street, Putney, VT). Time TBD. 
Outdoor Event with Safe Social Distancing. Please check https://www.shantaleegander.com/ghettoclaustrophobia soon for timing and more details. 

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Dancing-Blue-Wolf Shares Songs with Little Ones
presented by VT Abenaki Artists Association, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and Abenaki Arts and Education Center
Saturday, June 19th 2021-Sunday, June 20th, 2021, Online. Starting at 11am.
Free. Register HERE.
Dancing-Blue-Wolf will drum and share songs with the children, inviting them to join her in singing them. She will often give a little information about the song and why it is sung. 
Dancing Blue Wolf invites children to bring rattles and drums. The program is prerecorded and includes stopping points between songs.
Fill out registration form to receive an invitation to view this session from June 19 to 20, 2021.

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Putney Anti-Racism Book Group: Caste
hosted by the Putney Central School Leadership Council and the Putney Public Library
Sunday, June 20th, 2021, Online. 7pm-9pm.
For Zoom info to join or for more information, contact [email protected] or 603.504.2906 -- you can also send a message through FB messenger.
Please join the Putney Central School Leadership Council and the Putney Public Library for a continuation of an anti-racism book group for all Putney families and community members.
Join us for a discussion of Caste-The Origins of Our Discontents, written by Isabel Wilkerson.

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Northshire Live: A Poetry Reading with Shanta Lee Gander and Bianca Stone
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2021, Online. 6pm.

Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/154455479497/. If you have questions about this or any Northshire event, please e-mail us at [email protected]
Join us for a poetry reading in celebration of Shanta Lee Gander’s debut full-length collection Ghettoclaustrophobia.
To celebrate the publication of Shanta Lee Gander’s debut full-length collection Ghettoclaustrophobia, Northshire Bookstore is hosting a special virtual reading with Shanta and Northshire staff favorite Bianca Stone.
“Shanta Lee’s poems are adamant and stirring. They have incredible force and intimacy, the sound hit every part of me. ‘Some sounds invite eavesdropping to all / the befores. Before all the gates of / never return, before tongues couldn’t / be trained in what they no longer are’ she writes in the poem ‘Black Book of Creation,’ which mimics the experience of reading this book. This is an incredible book. A complex multiverse of language, nightmares, visions, history, the forgotten, the painful—but also that incredibleness of human resilience and togetherness. In this book there is conversation with both the reader, with history, with family, the very stars themselves. I feel the presence of the mother, the mother’s mothers, and on and on—all the way back to the first mother, the first stardust. And because of that, this is a book I will return to again and again.” —Bianca Stone, author of Gertrude and The Mobius Strip Club of Grief

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Vermont Food Bank Food Drop
hosted by the Putney Foodshelf
Thursday, June 24th, 2021 at Putney Meadows (17 Carol Brown Way, Putney, VT 05346). 9:30am-10:15am.
Everyone is welcome. No questions asked!
The Vermont Foodbank will be bringing food to Putney. There will be lots of produce along with other nonperishable food. The Vermont Foodbank truck will park on the side of the road in the big U (Alice Holway Drive).
Drivers: Shoppers will stay in their cars until called. Until further notice, shoppers can pick up for no more than two households.
Walkers: Stay tuned for instructions.
If you have never participated in this before, volunteers will be available to explain how it works!

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Critical Mass Bicycle Ride
hosted by 350 Brattleboro, VBike, and 350 Vermont
Friday, June 25th, 2021, at The Brattleboro Common (Park Place and Route 30, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5pm-6pm.
Questions? Email [email protected]
We're continuing with Critical Mass Rides on the last Friday of every month! We will adhere to physical distancing recommendations and masks are recommended.
Kids and families welcome! Critical (and "Kidical") Mass rides have a unique way of energizing folks around bike mobility, transportation solutions, and amplifying our collective ability and power to begin reclaiming our streets and communities. We need this, and we need YOU!
Agenda:
5pm: We'll be starting at the Brattleboro Common. We'll get organized, decorate bikes, and go over our route.
5:15pm: Begin Critical Mass ride. This is a high-visibility downtown route!
5:45pm: Join Solidarity Fridays rally at Pliny Park or continue back to the Common. [Visit Solidarity Fridays event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/370889857598308/ ]
Image credit: Hugh D'Andrade

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Red Cross Blood Drive at the Winston Prouty Campus
Saturday, June 26th, 2021
Saturday, July 24th, 2021
Saturday, August 28th, 2021
Saturday, September 25th, 2021
Saturday, October 23rd, 2021
Saturday, November 27th, 2021
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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People’s Hearing on the Right to Healthcare
hosted by the VT Workers’ Center
Wednesday, June 30th, 2021, Online. 6pm-8pm.
Free. Click here to register and receive the Zoom link: https://www.workerscenter.org/calendar/2021/06/30/peoples-hearing-on-the-right-to-healthcare
Do you have a healthcare story? You are not alone!
Come to this People’s Hearing to share your experience or to listen to others’ stories, as we share the effects of the healthcare crisis on our families and communities and talk about what we need from our healthcare system. Right now, thousands of people in Vermont are unable to get the healthcare we need -- and yet drug and health insurance companies are reporting massive profits, enabled by policy decisions that elevate profit over human life. 

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Poetry + Film Weekend!
Friday, July 16th, 2021 at Epsilon Spires (190 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 7pm-10pm.
Tickets: $20. You can purchase tickets here: https://www.epsilonspires.org/event-info/poetry-film-weekend.
Epsilon Spires presents a special Backlot Cinema event featuring artist Shanta Lee Gander in addition to cinematic treats, Hey Little Black Girl and The Fits.
A Celebration of Black Girlhood with Poetry, Film, Food & Chocolate in our Outdoor Cinema! Featuring the films Hey Little Black Girl and The Fits, and poetry read by Shanta Lee Gander from her new debut book, GHETTOCLAUSTROPHOBIA: Dreamin of Mama While Trying to Speak Woman in Woke Tongues. 
Shanta Lee will be doing a short reading prior to each of these features throughout the weekend from her debut poetry book, GHETTOCLAUSTROPHOBIA: Dreamin of Mama While Trying to Speak Woman in Woke Tongues (Diode Editions June 2021). The range of art forms paired together share an exploration of self, time, and what it means to take space within Black girlhood and womanhood in America.
As a part of this celebratory event for Shanta Lee’s book launch, special dishes and treats inspired by the poems within GHETTOCLAUSTROPHOBIA will be a part of this special experience.

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COMMUNITY SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES

Full Plates VT Announcement
The USDA has announced that May will be the final month of the Farmers to Families program. However, the Vermont Foodbank is excited to announce the launch of Full Plates VT. Full Plates VT will distribute food boxes at drive-thru style distributions throughout all fourteen counties in Vermont. The program is currently scheduled to run from June – September, 2021.
To keep wait times to a minimum, reservations will be required for the distributions. Registration will go live on May 24th and new dates will be added to the registration website every two weeks. To register and see the dates and locations, please visit vtfoodbank.org/gethelp or call 833-670-2254 for assistance. 
Each reservation will receive fresh produce along with other fresh and self-stable products.
Each household must register for their own food box and self-certify that they meet the income guidelines. You will not be asked for proof of income.
If you are unable to attend the event in person, you may register for a food box and designate another person to pick it up from the distribution. https://www.vtfoodbank.org/coronavirus-services-for...

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Health Equity and BI&POC Vaccine Clinics in Vermont: Now Registering 12 years and up!

The Vermont Professionals of Color Network created this amazing website to promote Health Equity and BI&POC vaccine clinics in Vermont. Their new site offers upcoming events, latest press, demonstrates their collaborative work, and even has a playlist of clinic jams to celebrate life preserving vaccine! Check it out at https://www.vermonthealthequity.org/
Vermont Health Equity Initiative -VHEI

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Covid 19 Pop-Up Testing

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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Free In-Home Covid19 Testing
sponsored by United Way of Windham County
People who are in need of a covid test and do not have transportation should call VT Public Transit at 802-442-0629 or toll free at 1-833-387-7200. VT Transit will contact your provider to confirm and get necessary info. They are using an ambulance service thru VT Department of Health which will do FREE IN-HOME testing and then transport your specimen to a local lab. VT Transit takes initial info and contacts the local EMS and VDH.

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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-11:30am. 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! at the C.F Building (80 Flat Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 4pm-6pm. Masks required. PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE EARLY.  If you have any questions visit https://www.brattleboro.com/everyoneeats/ or contact Frances Huntley [email protected]. Organizational ordering information is listed under our Free and Nutritious Food in Windham County section further along in this email. 
Everyone Eats! is a program which will distribute meals from Brattleboro restaurants to anyone in need who lives in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, or Vernon, free of charge, Monday-Thursday through June 2021. 
Pick up for individuals will be at the C.F. Church Building at 80 Flat St in Brattleboro and group/institution orders can be picked up at Mama Sezz in West Brattleboro. All meals are available Monday-Thursday between 4pm and 6pm until supplies run out.
If you have extra produce from your garden, there will be a wheelbarrow you can drop it off in on your way out of the pickup site. Participating restaurants will use the donated produce in making more meals.
The meals are free, but if you would like to make a monetary contribution to help make more meals possible for others, it will be gratefully received. The base cost of each meal is $10 but any amount will be appreciated.
Each restaurant will contribute meals two or more days a week. You will receive one individually packaged cold ready-to-eat or heat & serve dinner for each person you request a meal for. Meals will be distributed cold, so if you are driving a distance, delivering to other households, or distributing through your organization, consider bringing a cooler if you can.

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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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   Please remember that many in-person events are still requiring masks. Please check with the organizers of your chosen event to clarify their current policy if you have questions. Please stay home if you are unwell or if you have been around someone who has tested positive for Covid 19. 

Your Friendly WeCAN Admins

Joanna and Sam

 

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