Income

Income Vision: Promoting financial stability and independence

Countywide Initiative:
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program
During the 2011 tax season, The United Way of Windham County and Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) joined forces for the fifth year in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program to provide assistance to eligible taxpayers through the donated time and expertise of 12 volunteers. More than 350 eligible taxpayers received free services in Brattleboro and Westminster.  Individuals who lived or worked in Windham County, and whose household income was at or below $49,000, were eligible for these free services.  For the second year in a row, Vermont 2-1-1 provided their assistance by screening and transferring incoming calls (approximately 365 phone calls were handled).  Volunteer tax preparers devoted more than 650 volunteer hours assisting local taxpayers recover the following tax benefits: Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credit, Child & Dependent Care Credit, Education Credits, Retirement Savings, Contribution Credits, Making Work Pay Credit, Vermont Property Tax Adjustment, and Vermont Renter’s Rebate. In 2011, Windham County taxpayers received over $215,000 in Earned Income Credits, in addition to federal and state refunds totaling over $500,000. These funds were returned to individuals in Windham County as refunds, rebates and credits, helping to stimulate the economic stability and growth of our community. 

Basic Needs Outcome - All people have access to food

Countywide Initiative:
The Hunger Council of Windham County (www.hungerfreevt.org)
The Hunger Council was formed in March 2011 in an effort to coordinate services and resources around the issue of hunger in Windham County. The Council is currently comprised of over 30 social service providers, advocates, legislators, media representatives, and others involved in the issue of hunger. The Council is generously supported by The Canaday Family Charitable Trust and the Windham Foundation. UWWC’s Executive Director co-chairs this council with the CEO of River Valley Credit Union.

Programs:
AIDS Project of Southern Vermont – Food Program (www.aidsprojectsouthernvermont.org)
The Gathering for Mealtime program provides frozen prepared meals, fresh fruits and vegetables, non-perishable food, dairy products and a wide variety of frozen meats and vegetables to people living with HIV and their families. The Dove program engages members of faith communities and the Brattleboro Food Co-op to donate non-perishable food and household items. The program has the following objectives:

• Improve the nutritional health of clients, contributing to overall well-being.
• Promote healthy choices in eating by supporting manageable, realistic options such as incorporating foods that are high in fiber, contain vitamins and minerals, and are low in fat
• Reduce practical obstacles such as transportation, childcare, food delivery and help with shopping, and meal planning through staff and volunteer support.
• Ease the economic burden on families for buying food as well as the physical burden of preparing meals.
• Assuage the strain on other anti-hunger organizations by increasing the amount of food available to people affected by HIV.
  The program meets these objectives through the following strategies:
• Partner with the Vermont Foodbank to provide 30 different frozen meals, meats and vegetables, nonperishable food, and dairy products as well as fresh, organic, locally grown vegetables through their gleaning program
• Collaborate with the Market Basket CSA Program of Post Oil Solutions in offering vouchers to clients
• Collaborate with 7 faith communities in the Brattleboro area and nine in Bennington to offer donated food and household items

Our Place - Healthy Community Meals and Groceries (www.ourplacevt.org)
Our Place serves free breakfast and lunch in the dining room five days a week, Monday through Friday and offers meals to go after lunch. In the past year the number of meals served has increased by 25% from an average of 875 meals a month to 1100 plus 200 to go meals each month. The guests include senior citizens, families working for low wages, disabled head of households and people who are homeless or living in places without cooking equipment.  Our Place also distributes hundreds of pounds of fresh produce and bread every month. The fresh food helps to supplement the free groceries that people can obtain in the Food Pantry, which is set up like a small grocery store. The number of households served in the Food Pantry has increased 20% from an average of 150 to 180 each month. In addition to healthy meals, the dining room provides a safe place to share information or connect to resources in our community.

Basic Needs Outcome - All people have access to shelter

Programs:
Brattleboro Area Drop In Center - Projects to Assist In Transition from Homelessness (PATH) (www.brattleborodropin.org)
The PATH Program has been the keystone of the Drop In Center's outreach to, and engagement with, homeless adults who are mentally ill and who may also be suffering from addiction.  For the past fifteen years, the Center has provided basic needs such as food, clothing, blankets and tents, launndry facilities and other basic services coupled with 24/7/365 outreach and client directed case management to over 200 separate people each year who fit these criteria.  For the past four winters BADIC has also provided a Winter Overflow Shelter, as well.  This program is funded by both federal and state mental health funding, but requires a local match.

Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) - Housing Stabilization Program (www.sevca.org)
The Housing Stabilization Program (HSP) is an intensive homelessness prevention program serving households who have exhibited significant and persistent barriers to maintaining housing security, including unmanageable debt, lack of resources and/or asset-building capacity, lack of life and planning skills or education, and/or physical or mental health issues.

Employment Outcome - All people who want to work have the skills and resources they need to seek, gain and maintain employment

Programs:
Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) - Working Bridges (www.sevca.org)
Working Bridges provides on-site resource and service coordination, innovative human resource strategies, and best practices training to encourage employers to hire, retain and advance low-income employees and maximize the positive impact of an economically diverse workforce.

Vermont Adult Learning - Basic Computer Classes (www.vtadultlearning.org)
In today’s job market, job prospects and income potential are far greater for those who have computer skills.  Being able to navigate the Internet, and knowing how to use software applications proficiently, can open doors to a greater variety of jobs in a tight employment market.  Based on five years of collaborating with state and local government programs, social service agencies and personal self-referrals, Vermont Adult Learning knows that there are many low-income folks in the community who lack basic computer skills.  This hinders their ability to gain, maintain and improve their employment options and increase their income stability and independence. To meet this challenge, Vermont Adult Learning (VAL) will provide seven free introductory computer classes to 56 low-income local residents on a monthly basis from January through June 2012.  The classes will be taught in the VAL Computer Lab and will  include: Introduction to Basic Computing, Word, Excel, Navigating the Internet and a Computer Presentation Skills workshop.   VAL adheres to the US federally defined low-income guidelines.

Youth Services Inc. - Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP) (www.youthservicesinc.org)
RAMP is a career-focused mentoring program for youth with disabilities from ages 13 - 17 involved in or at risk of involvement in the juvenile justice system. Based in part on the High School/High Tech model, which helps high school-age youth with disabilities transition to adulthood, RAMP engages youth in exploring their career interests, with an emphasis on careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The disabilities of the students typically include mental health impairments, emotional disturbance, learning disabilities and cognitive disabilities, as well as drug and alcohol dependency. The Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), a national non-profit organization, is overseeing this program at 12 sites across the country.  Youth Services is the only RAMP site in New England, providing RAMP to students from Bellows Falls, Brattleboro and adding Townshend. Youth attend weekly RAMP sessions on campus where they learn work-place skills, develop individual career plans, develop weekly goals, and attend site visits to businesses and colleges.  They earn a weekly stipend of $10.  And they meet one-on-one with their mentors regularly every quarter. The program recruits, screens, trains and matches volunteer adult mentors in accordance with the Big Brothers Big Sisters model.  RAMP also recruits partners from businesses, colleges, training programs, and schools to provide site visits, mentors, internships and guest speakers.

Housing Outcome - All people have decent, affordable housing

Programs:
Morningside House - Homeless Youth Housing and Support Initiative (www.morningsideshelter.org)
For decades, the issue of youth homelessness has consistently been identified as an important problem in the community, including in the United Way's community assessments. To date, the response has been inadequate to meet the growing need. This new collaborative initiative between Morningside House and Youth Services will create new transitional housing capacity coupled with case management services for homeless youth utilizing an innovative housing first and master leasing model. Through this initiative, homeless young adults participating in the Youth Services Transitional Living Program would be offered transitional housing in apartments leased by Morningside. The program’s goal is to support youth as they engage in a successful transition to self-sufficiency by helping them obtain the skills and resources necessary to live on their own. Both agencies will work collaboratively to provide program oversight, with Youth Services case managers delivering a wide range of support services to program participants. Participants will meet weekly with staff to increase their awareness and skills in the following core areas:
     • Employment and career development
     • Budgeting and money management
     • Housing
     • Education
     • Life skills
     • Building social supports
The initiative will provide stable, supportive housing to participants while they transition towards self-sufficiency and longer-term, more permanent housing with the assistance of agency staff.

Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) - Emergency Home Repair (www.sevca.org)
The Emergency Home Repair (EHR) program provides no-cost emergency home repairs for low-income households in crisis, and facilitates access to other vital services. The program addresses a critical unmet need for households who either cannot qualify for existing housing rehab loan programs, have an immediate urgent need that cannot be met by other programs, or may need additional help beyond what they are able to borrow for. By providing the needed urgent repairs quickly and cost-effectively, it enables recipients to stay in their homes, ensure the safety and health of their families, and focus their scarce resources on other basic needs.

Windham & Windsor Housing Trust - Foreclosure Prevention Program (www.w-wht.org)
WWHT’s Homeownership Center is reaching out for financial assistance to support housing counseling activities in 2012.  Specifically, WWWHT will deliver the very time-intensive Foreclosure Prevention Counseling Program, as well as the Reverse Mortgage Counseling Program and the Homebuyer Education Program.   These counseling programs provide essential tools to keep distressed homeowners in their homes. One-on-one counseling services will be provided by two WWHT certified Housing Counselors.  Referrals to the counselors are made by the Court, local lenders, Legal Aide, or the State Banking and Insurance Commission.  The services are available free of charge to any Vermont homeowner. WWHT Counselors will work with referred delinquent homeowners and their lenders to negotiate preferential workout plans, mortgage modifications, interest rate reductions, and more.  Counselors are also able to work with homeowners on credit repair.

Windham & Windsor Housing Trust - Rental Housing Management Program (www.w-wht.org)
The Windham & Windsor Housing Trust develops and manages rental housing throughout Windham County. Once housing is either rehabilitated or constructed, WWHT staff provides comprehensive property management services—as well as supportive services, when needed, to help residents maintain housing stability. WWHT’s rental housing portfolio includes:  efficiency apartments, one- to four-bedroom apartments, single-room occupancy housing, elderly housing, and housing for persons with disabilities and special needs. While the basic work of “rental management” is collecting rent and performing building maintenance, what has been learned is that—in order for the residents to be successful-- WWHT needs to be much more than just a “landlord.” To successfully meet the community’s affordable housing needs, WWHT must often work to meet residents’ personal and family needs.

Transportation Outcome – All people have the transportation they need to get to work and to meet their basic needs