Grantees: Equipment Grants

Blue Mountain Union School recently became a full day/full year preschool program and are looking at ways to enhance the materials that are available to our children.  With the expansion of our program we are adding an outdoor classroom space for our students to explore within and use their imagination to a whole new world of excitement and learning.  With the funds from this grant we are purchasing water exploration tables, mud kitchens, outdoor reading nooks and more. We currently serve 40 children within our preschool program and they come from a variety of backgrounds.  Being outdoors is something that many of them are missing or have missed from the pandemic. We plan to expand their learning and their world.

The Cabot Community Association is pairing with the Cabot school, the United Methodist Church, and childcare owner Heather Smires to open the Cabot's Children Center. This will be the only licensed children center within Cabot that serves infants and toddlers, meeting needs of many local families, including the 300 employees of Cabot Creamery. This program will also expand to support preschool children, who will face a need for care when school is closed during the summer. This funding will provide the program with strollers that will allow them to access the Cabot green for quality outdoor time and cribs for a location to rest. Both will also be an intricate part of the licensing plan to provide transportation methods. 

Green Mountain Mobile Therapy is purchasing a ramp installation to our mobile therapy office. This will provide a safer, more accessible entrance to the therapeutic space for children with mobility challenges. 

Kids in the Country is a small non-profit child care that serves families in the many surrounding towns in Sothern Vermont.  We provide quality care for children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old.  We are purchasing learning materials, so that we are able to rotate often and keep the children engage in learning and exploring their environment.  We will also purchase organizational materials to get our current learning material closet organized and  easy to use so that teachers are able to rotate learning materials often to support the children's development and provide them with the ability to build a strong foundation that they will build on for the rest of their life.

Maple Leaf Childrens Center is located in orange county where childcare availability is low. We are increasing our outdoor enrichment space for all the children we serve and bring art from the inside! MLCC loves using full-body multi-use learning. Art is such a large important of learning. We plan to create an outdoor art learning space.

ONE Arts is on a mission to facilitate and coordinate unique and significant art experiences in our local community (Chittenden County) and to build a larger creative community of all ages. Our art center provides daily after school programs and creative camps for elementary ages and middle school in the Old North End of Burlington, while our two early learning locations serve ages 0-5 and their families. We need a new gate to keep the toddlers from leaving the classroom, specifically in our gross motor space. We used a baby gate system, but unfortunately the gate broke, pulling out of the wall. We currently have a couch blocking the exit but this is not a sustainable long-term solution. We are looking forward to replacing the broken gate with a higher quality, safer gate and having it installed by our handyperson. With the $2,000 from the Vermont Children's Trust Foundation, we will be able to install a high quality safety gate, long enough and strong enough to create a barrier to the exit door and specifically made for children that is ADA compliant.  Installing a new gate will help us control exits more safely and securely.

The Rutland County Parent Child Center consists of five campuses that provide targeted family support to at-risk community members with each campus  addressing specific community needs based on campus capacity and staffing. Our Madison Street, Rutland site currently hosts therapy rooms to provide access for families utilizing specialty providers such as speech pathologists, our family support case management workers, our community resource and workforce navigation program directors, as well as our high-school completion program for pregnant, parenting and at-risk youth. Currently none of these providers or programs have on-site access to a colored printer to support school work, printing marketing, outreach, or data collection materials. 

Starksboro Cooperative Preschool has a well-established garden space, comprising two 14 X 20 feet plots located within the Starksboro Community Garden, and adjacent to our school. We use the garden for our Morning Meeting year-round, and for many learning activities.  We plan to purchase tools to help children do necessary garden work such as digging, moving dirt, and transporting mulch and debris. We believe that giving children hands-on access to tools and work opportunities will increase their health and developmental skills. Research has shown that heavy work (pushing, pulling, carrying heavy objects) helps regulate a child’s sensory system, provides a calming effect, and improves strength, stability, and stamina.

The Town of Brighton plans to share the communities love of Island Pond. Currently there is no ability for children, young adults, or adults to enjoy the outdoor recreational space that is Island Pond. By purchasing paddle boards, oars and life vests we hope to encourage residents to learn more about outdoor recreation on the water, water safety, swimming, and all things related to our love of Island Pond and bring recreational water sports to the residents of Brighton and to future generations.

The Family and Children’s Program (FCP) operates in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties, cares for about 750 children each year and provides parents with information and tools to maximize each child’s physical, mental, and emotional development. FCP is comprised of Pediatric Rehabilitation (PR) and Nursing and Family Support (NFS). Families would use the new equipment on a short term basis to aid development and provide safe environments. Adaptive tableware would support feeding skills within PR. Access to developmentally appropriate feeding tools allow families to better care for their children. Child locks and safety covers for income insecure families in NFS will ensure children are safe within their home and reduce caregivers’ stress.