Reflections from Denise Smith, Executive Director
Vermont Council on Rural Development
It is with deep gratitude and joy that I write this note just shy of 30 days into this new role. My joy comes from knowing I am in the right place at the right time, and my gratitude comes from realizing that I have landed among an extraordinary team of people - from the tenured staff to the expert board, to all of you - our Vermont friends, family, and neighbors who are part of the VCRD ecosystem. As I enter, we say good-bye to Jenna Koloski and Charlie Smith who many of you may have known. We thank them both for their incredible service to our Vermont communities.
I come into this role with expansive non-profit and community development experience. Like many of you, I have volunteered and worked at the local community level wearing multiple hats. I have also been part of the VCRD network for many years, as a participant of the community visit process and in various policy summits and focus groups, and a member of the Vermont Community Leadership Network. In this moment of political polarization and divisive rhetoric that cultivates fear and separation, VCRD empowers community voice in decision making, explores shared values and solutions to complex societal and environmental problems, and unleashes the wisdom of Vermonters in hopes of giving people purpose and power to change their future. The worth of VCRD cannot be understated! I hope you enjoy our newsletter and that you consider contributing to our work: https://www.vtrural.org/support-us/. Please feel free to reach out directly if you have any thoughts, questions, needs, or ideas – [email protected].
Denise Smith
Applications Open for VCRD’s Climate Catalyst Innovation Fund
Small grants for local innovators developing solutions that move Vermont closer to its climate and energy goals
Applications are now open for the 2024 round! Grants range from $500-4,000 and will be awarded based on a mix of innovation, resilience, collaboration, replicability, and addressing Vermonters in need. Eligible applicants include municipalities, town committees, schools, businesses, and non-profit organizations. Application deadline is October 28th @ 5pm. Award decisions will be made and funds distributed by the end of November.
Application Deadline: 10/28 @ 5pm
If completing the form is a barrier to applying, contact [email protected] or (802) 234-1646 for assistance.
This fund helps community projects move from an ambitious idea to an implemented climate-based solution. The first three rounds awarded a total of over $200,000 to 68 local innovators for a diversity of projects including a floodplain public food forest, frontline emergency preparedness kits, climate economy workforce training, e-bikes at local libraries, solar with back-up battery storage for a library community hub, and more. To learn more about projects that have been funded in the past, see this interactive map and read the reports for Round 1 and Round 2.
Thanks to the generous support of VLITE, the Vermont Community Foundation’s Sunflower Fund, EastRise Credit Union, and Ruth H. Brown Foundation for making this program possible. We look forward to supporting many creative applications again this year! Visit our website to learn more about this opportunity and feel free to contact Laura Cavin Bailey at [email protected] or 802-234-1646 with any questions.
Village Trust Initiative Selects First Seven Communities
The Village Trust Initiative - a new partnership of the Preservation Trust of Vermont, the Vermont Community Foundation, and VCRD - will support 20 Vermont communities over the next several years with expertise and funding to form a Community Trust and undertake a transformational revitalization project in their historic village. The program launched in the Spring of 2024 with an application process open to towns with fewer than 2,500 residents. We received 70 qualified applications in this first round, and worked with an advisory committee to choose the first seven communities:
- Wolcott, Schoolhouse rehabilitation project
- Lunenburg, Gilman Middle School reuse project
- Greensboro Bend, Church and parsonage adaptive reuse project
- West Fairlee, Bean Hall Community Center project
- Braintree, Snowsville Hotel housing and community space project
- Benson, General Store project
- Reading, General Store project
Each community will receive technical assistance, funding to support project pre-development, and significant capital investment to launch the project forward. We are so excited for the potential of this initiative to help build community capacity, preserve a sense of place, and ensure Vermont villages are dynamic places for future generations! There will be two future application rounds within the next 4 years. We are deeply grateful to Senator Leahy and to the entire congressional delegation for making this opportunity and funding possible. Feel free to reach out to VCRD’s Village Trust Program Director Kaziah Haviland at [email protected] with any questions.
MTAP Updates
Through our Municipal Technical Assistance Program grant, VCRD has been offering free support to towns across the state as they plan for and implement economic and community development projects. So far this year, we have worked with over 10 communities delivering a range of services from facilitation of community or stakeholder engagements to hiring consultants for hands-on support with planning, grant writing, facilitation, project implementation, and more. One recent project underway is the expansion of Hardwick’s Emergency Management Plan to include the invaluable contributions of the Neighbor to Neighbor group in partnership with the municipality. Interested in learning more? Have a community development project in your town that might need support? Learn more about the program and contact Jessica Savage at [email protected].
Westmore's Path Forward
Over 100 community members came together in the Westmore’s Path Forward Community Visit Process. After generating 16 ideas to improve their future, community members voted to form a task force to Build Outdoor Spaces for Youth, Families, and Community Members and another task force to Develop a Local Recreation Access Management Plan. Learn more about their process and read their Report here. You can learn more about the Community Visit program here: vtrural.org/community-visits.
Vermont Community Leadership Network
Our Vermont Community Leadership Network (VCLN) hosted six workshops in 2024 including with topics on flood resilience and recovery; project management; a round up of legislation passed in 2024; a vision for youth success in Vermont; and more. We'll come back together in January 2025 for a workshop on Civic Health in Vermont with the Vermont Secretary of State. Look for registration info in the next newsletter. In the meantime, all VCLN workshops are recorded and posted to our website. You can see the full library here: https://www.vtrural.org/leadership-network/workshops/.
COMMUNITY VISIT
Lunenburg-Gilman: One Community Working Together: Oct 24 | Nov 19 | Dec 17
Step 1: Forums to share ideas for the future
October 24 | 4:30-8:30pm
Members of the Lunenburg-Gilman community will come together for the 1st step in VCRD’s 3-month Community Visit process to help the community identify and implement key priorities for the future. Participants will attend forums to share assets, challenges, and ideas for Lunenburg-Gilman’s future and enjoy a free community dinner. Find out more here: bit.ly/LunenburgGilman.
RESILIENT COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
Re-Imagine Johnson
Step 3: Building Action Plans
October 9 | 6:30-9pm | Bentley Hall, VSU Johnson Campus
Johnson community members are coming back together for the 3rd VCRD-facilitated meeting in the Re-Imagine Johnson process to form local task force groups for the 5 priorities the community identified as key for long-term flood recovery and future resilience and vitality of the town:
- Bring a Grocery Store to Johnson and Increase Awareness and Access to Food
- Develop a Housing Strategy
- Downtown Reconfiguration and Redevelopment
- Capitalize and Increase Recreational Economic Opportunities
- Enhance and Strengthen the College/Town Connection
Participants will work with a resource team of federal, state, business, and nonprofit leaders to frame action plans for each priority and identify next steps toward success. All members of the Johnson community are invited and welcome! For more information visit bit.ly/re-imagine-johnson.
Vermont Council on Rural Development
9 Bailey Ave., PO Box 1384 Montpelier, VT 05601
(802) 223-6091 | https://www.vtrural.org | [email protected]
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