Grantees: After-School/Out of School
Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center
Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center is collaborating with the Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro to build on the success of their “Hike and Seek” pilot program to continue to provide outdoor learning and recreation experiences for youth and their families. This program will operate free bi-weekly on Saturdays from 10AM through noon during the school years, 24-26. Each session of the program will be operated on a drop-in basis at locations around Windham County. This series structure creates access to programming for families in our rural towns, allowing youth and parents/caregivers to attend the sessions that aligns with their schedules. Each program session focuses on different outdoor skills and inquiry-based learning and STEAM.
Essex CHIPS (Community Health Initiatives & Programs for Students)
In line with their mission to support, engage, inspire, and empower youth to make healthy decisions and become active community members and leaders, Essex CHIPS will hold bi-monthly Teen Nights. These free, third space Friday events will provide a safe, healthy, and engaging environment for teens. Program offerings will include healthy snacks, supervised games, STEM activities, and special guest speakers covering topics such as healthy living, community engagement, leadership, and career exploration. Additional special events will feature movies, sports, and other interactive activities.
The intent is to be an enriching and fun experience for youth seeking productive social time.
Florida School of Holistic Living DBA Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary
Hosted on 600 acres of wilderness in rural Vermont, Afterschool in Nature is an out-of-school program that provides a platform for youth to cultivate a greater understanding of themselves and the natural world around them. Activities such as trail camera monitoring of wildlife, tracking, and plant identification, introduce students to research methods, scientific analysis, and bioregional ecology. Afterschool in Nature supports the whole child with a hands-on approach that is trauma-informed and holistic.
Spectrum Youth & Family Services
Spectrum’s Multicultural Youth Program (MYP) supports multicultural youth and families in northern Vermont by nurturing connections to the community, and giving youth knowledge, life skills, leadership opportunities, and encouragement for success. Nearly all MYP youth (91%) identify as BIPOC, including 52% who are English Language Learners. In 2025, MYP will engage at least 300 multicultural youth at their schools and in the community to build positive peer relationships; engage in recreation and enrichment programs that are safe and healthy; and receive support and guidance from staff they can relate to who share their language, culture, and experiences as newcomers to Vermont. This funding from VCTF will allow this critical work to continue.
The Barra School
The Barra School is expanding their year-long overnight programming to include afterschool and weekend-based OUTReach and OUTings programming to support at-risk, trauma-impacted, neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, and otherwise marginalized youth in Orange County and surrounding areas.
Very Merry Theatre
Very Merry Theatre is expanding access to theatre arts-based after school and summer camp programming to children in Winooski. Winooski's population of young people includes a high percentage of youth from the global majority. We will extend the collaborative partnership with Winooski Parks and Recreation to offer year round afterschool and summer programming characterized by Very Merry's inclusive approach to developing literacy skills, communication skills and teamwork to children from a range of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
Young Writers Project
Young Writers Project (YWP) is an independent youth arts organization that began in 2006 in Burlington, VT, with a mission to inspire, mentor, publish, and promote young writers and artists. All programming is free. YWP has a vibrant online community of some 4,000 teens, mostly from Vermont. The Tomorrow Project is YWP's new civic engagement program in which teens create, publish, and exhibit their powerful writing and visual art on the issues of today – with hope and solutions for tomorrow. Youth, ages 13-19, connect with each other and their Vermont communities around issues such as democracy, human rights, and climate change.
Youth Services, Inc
Friends For Change is a grassroots community program built for and by youth in June of 2016. In partnership with their local substance abuse prevention coalition, they've built a program that specifically addresses the unique needs of their often overlooked community members. Their entire program is rooted in identifying and responding to the needs of marginalized and most impacted youth and families. They provide after-school and summer programming where youth and their families thrive and learn how to build a stronger community.