Grantees

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.

The Arts Bus Ever After Kids Program is GROWing & GOing! What we piloted in 2019 with partner OnePlanet & VCTF’s grant has grown to an award-winning, efficient, year-round art enrichment & empowerment program-not just for kids, but for care providers, families, art educators, schools, libraries & communities. The research-supported, needs-based program is based on 2 systemic facts: 1) there will FOREVER be children at-risk in AFTER care programs; and 2) quality art education will ALWAYS be sacrificed from school budgets. It was a steep learning curve to roll out this program just before a pandemic, but that inspired initiatives for art kits & supplies to remote areas in every weather, which together makes magic for heaps of ever after kids!

After a decade of service, The Arts Bus mission of “empowering joy & authentic self-expression through the arts” finds Vermont’s favorite green bus at the crossroads of limited public art education resources and ever-increasing costs of raising children. The EVER AFTER KIDS Program is based on acceptance of two systemic facts: 1) there will FOREVER be children in AFTER care programs; and 2) quality art education will ALWAYS be limited in school budgets. Through this program, The Arts Bus bridges the opportunity gap by offering programs free of charge to children who otherwise have no other quality art education outside of public schools, working in creative partnerships with libraries, towns, schools, art centers & after-care providers.

This is an expansion of the Twinfield Together Mentoring Program. As of February 2017, TTMP is overseeing 63 one to one mentoring matches across our three programs. Despite this high participation rate, we still have students requesting a mentor. We would like to continue supporting our 18 weekly EW reading pairs, and expand and grow our program to create new Everybody Wins! reading matches for the 2017-2018 school year. We will specifically focus outreach efforts to recruit more male Everybody Wins! mentors.

On the 2022 reading NAEP, only 43% of VT 4th-graders scored proficient or above—& only 19% of children in poverty. Reading well and liking to read are tied to further education, well-paying jobs—and a good life as an adult. Everybody Wins! Vermont helps children love to read by matching them one-on-one with volunteer reading mentors who share books & literacy activities and build friendships weekly at school. Children are exposed to new topics & discussions, enhance self-esteem, and show gains in reading skills, self-esteem, and overall classroom performance. Everybody Wins! Connects children with their communities and citizens with their local schools. One principal: "Everybody Wins! Is our most important connection with our community."

Everybody Wins! Vermont is the state's largest mentoring organization, with over 600 adult volunteers reading one-on-one weekly with children in 22 schools statewide. Mentor pairs meet during lunch time at the school to share books and literacy activities and to build positive relationships. Our Power Lunch program exposes children to topics and discussions they might not have otherwise, enhances children’s self-esteem, and expands their possibilities for academic and life success. Research shows that children who enjoy reading and are surrounded by books at a young age gain an edge in school and life. Everybody Wins! mentors help make sure that more children have that opportunity.

An afterschool program in Randolph, VT

Babywearing enables caregivers to bond with their newborns, manage stress, and care for their baby and themselves. Families worldwide have carried their babies for centuries. But for many families today, babywearing can be expensive - and overwhelming. Carrier options are confusing and complicated; a good quality carrier may cost over a hundred dollars. Many new parents give up after one failed attempt because they lack sustained support and the ability to try different carriers until they find a good fit for their needs. This program breaks down barriers to babywearing via individualized fitting assistance, practical information on how to carry your baby, and access to a variety of carrier types in a supportive, judgment-free environment.