Grantees

OCPCC provides a range of supports to help all families get off to a healthy start, promote well-being, and build on family strengths. OCPCC serves more than 500 families each year and covers about 759 square miles of mountainous terrain with a population that has an average income level more than 10% below the poverty line. In our service region, parents have little access to resources given the rural nature of our community. Grocery stores are 30+ miles away, there is no public transportation and access to medical services is limited. OCPCC creates a safety net for the community with our supports and resources and we are in a unique opportunity to grow those resources and prevention services throughout our county.

rePlay Arts will coordinate and implement 32 Artcycle workshops with both new and existing partners. Launched in 2023, Artcycle teaches creative reuse artmaking skills using art supplies donated by community members. We plan to launch new partnerships with youth service organizations in Vermont’s Upper Valley towns. Artcycle workshops will be scheduled and tailored to enrich the activities available to the populations served by each partner. We will operate free of charge for any partner identifying cost as a barrier.

For the last 30 years we have been innovative while upholding traditions and we are looking to create a sustainable future for the next 30+ years. PFCC is a multi-faceted community that fosters courage, integrity, responsibility and the joy of discovery in children and adults. We aim to be diverse and inclusive, ensuring that all feel safe, valued and honored. We view families as the experts on their own child, and ourselves as the experts on early education. Our curriculum reflects the best research in early childhood development and is emergent and play-based, allowing children to guide their own learning through open ended activities. PFCC will purchase a Community Playthings Outlast Block Set to enhance their program.

Provide a safe place for out of school teens 13-17 years of age to socialize, have fun and create a sense of belongint. To provide community=based youth support through after school activities.

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.

The program will "integrate social and emotional competence with early language and literacy learning to benefit infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families" (CSEFEL).

The Mentor Connector is expanding our Positive Action group mentoring program to serve 35 additional vulnerable youth with bi-weekly social-emotional skill-building tools and resources. The Positive Action Group Mentoring Program is one such program that utilizes two evidence-based interventions (group curriculum and one-on-one mentoring) as a multi-layered approach to enhance outcomes and provide sustainable, long-term support to youth. Bi-monthly meetings are established to 1) provide a platform for youth to discuss and learn tools to reduce stress, enhance refusal skills, and improve prosocial behavior and 2) an engaging group activity to expose youth to new activities and connect youth with each other.

To launch a pilot year for Power Breakfast, a reading and mentoring program modeled after the power lunch program.