Grantees

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.

Outright’s founders imagined a Vermont where LGBTQ+ youth would always know they weren’t alone. They launched the first social and support program in November of 1989 – a weekly Friday Night Group (FNG) in Burlington. It didn’t take long to determine that preparing youth to navigate isolation and harm wouldn’t be enough. We needed to strengthen – and when necessary, transform – the external climate affecting young people every day. This includes their own families. Outright is strengthening our family programs, and launching new co-occurring programs in northern VT. These programs will build resilience and protective factors for both families and youth, creating more safe, supportive, and stable homes for vulnerable Vermonters.

Pages, a Book Club for Parents and Caregivers is a group to gather caregivers to discuss the highs and lows of raising tweens. The discussion will be guided by a book of the group's choosing and will center the expertise of participants. This is an opportunity for parents and caregivers to find community, share tips, and develop a support network. Friday Nights in the Teen Center for High School Students will open our Teen Center space to 9-12th graders. We will offer games, dinner, crafts, and other activities of the kids choosing. Providing this third space for youth at no-cost to families will help engage high schoolers.

The Teen Center provides after school drop-in to teens in Addison County, as well as no-cost enrichment and summer programming. We encourage teens to use our space to explore their interests and talents. Teens who have not found an interest by middle- or high school often feel like they have missed their chance. For many of our teens, this is tied to their socio-economic status, as their families could not afford lessons or equipment when they were younger. Teens internalize this into thinking they are not as talented or capable as their peers, which affects confidence and drives anxiety. Play for Keeps (PfK) will allow teens to earn their own equipment while learning a new talent, setting them up to be lifelong, confident learners.

Outright Vermont has always been a statewide organization, though not all regions need the same level of acute attention. In an effort to concentrate on those areas most in need of support and transformation, Outright is excited to engage a new and robust strategy: targeted regional prevention and intervention. By identifying areas of priority, and coordinating multi-faceted outreach and engagement, our hope is to build a supportive base of partners, adults, and youth leaders who can lead the charge in their own communities. This strategic approach will allow us to maximize impact in the areas where it is most needed. We are excited to pilot these efforts in Rutland County.

Paran Recreations INC is dedicated to enhancing the health and well-being of rural children from low income families. Our goal is to sustain the access of year-round outdoor and place-based education for our surrounding community focusing on youth populations by providing at least 45% of campers with a full funded scholarship to attend our camps throughout the year.

Building a Positive Community (BAPC) supports the greater Brattleboro community (including the towns served by the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union school district. We are becoming certified as a Quality Youth Development community. The Quality Youth Development or “QYD” is a community certification process that will demonstrate the greater Brattleboro community is actively promoting youth engagement and youth empowerment. The Coalition will convene youth and adults representing a cross-section of our community to work toward meeting at least 7 of the 10 possible benchmarks identified by Essex CHIPS in Essex, VT (the host of the certification process) to qualify as a QYD community.

Provide affordable, quality arts programming to at risk Lamoille County youth and to provide scholarship support to low income families.