(The) Howard Center for Human Services
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
Nan's Garden (from Free Press, 11/25/95, 1&2c)
Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA)
(The) Howard Center for Human Services
150 Colchester Avenue
Burlington, VT 05401
(802)660-3678
The Baird Center for Children and Families
Champlain Drug and Alcohol Services
Community Counseling and Support Programs
Howard Community Services
The goal of The Howard Center is to provide services that promote independence, wellness, and the preservation of families in a manner and atmosphere that recognizes and promotes the self- worth and dignity of every child and adult. At the Baird Center, prevention, assessment, treatment, and educational services are provided for children, youths and their families with the following services, Residential Services, Intensive Family-Based Services (IFBS), Day Treatment and Special Education Services, School Services, Counseling Services, Children's Respite, Special Friend Program, Children's Crisis Services, and Pine Street Child Care Center. The Champlain Drug and Alcohol Service provides drug and alcohol counseling, therapy, education, prevention, intervention, outpatient and residential support services. Several of the programs in this division are Kaliedoscope, Outreach and Consultation on Correctional and Homeless Health Issues, Clinical Training, Outpatient Treatment/Intervention/Prevention, Alcohol Crisis Services, and Drinking/Driving Screening, and project CRASH.
People experiencing mental illness are supported through the Community Counseling Program including Clinical and Case Management, the Westview House, Residential and Housing Programs, Adult Counseling Services, and The Employee Assistance Program. Howard Community Services offers programs and support for people with developmental disabilities for the enhancement of their lives and individual growth. Residential, Family, Vocational, Support, Transitional, and Community Integration and Retirement Services form this division of the center.
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) - Fuel assistance
On a national scale, this is a small program, obviously of more importance to the rural and more northerly states. More than 20,000 Vermonters rely on this program to help them pay heating bills every winter. The people who receive fuel assistance are a diverse group that include senior citizens on fixed incomes, the disabled, and families with children. Money comes to Vermont from the federal government in the form of a block grant under the LIHEAP. The money is then distributed by the Department of Social Welfare on a sliding scale based on people's need. Established in 1981, this program has not had state funding. However, with 1995 cuts proposed, House Speaker Michael Obuchowski says he plans to in next legislative session. Based on a LIHEAP grant of %5.7 million, the two parties negotiated a finding formula that falls within the Legislature's 20% cap. LIHEAP funding has been in decline pretty consistently for the past decade since reaching a high of $12 million in 1985. That year the department distributed the funds to about 20,000 Vermonters. By 1993 funding had dropped to $7.9 million, while the number of people seeking assistance had grown to 22,350. The current estimate is 24,500. In the Northeast Kingdom, the program is administrated by Barbara Stevens of NEKCA.
Nan's Garden (from Free Press, 11/25/95, 1&2c)
South Starksboro Friend's Meeting
Santo Santoriello, Bristol, Vermont
The South Starksboro Friend's Meeting donates home grown vegetables to the local food shelf. Using a friend's donated land in Bristol, members from eight households have worked on the 100x100 ft. parcel, called Nan's Garden, and selecting low maintenance vegetables, produced about 900 lbs. of potatoes and 600 lbs. of delicata and buttercup squash for donation to the local food shelf. The Middlebury Food Shelf - Addison Community Action/Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, although very grateful, can always use more. It is the hopes of the South Starksboro Friend's Meeting to produce more next year with even less maintenance and to help others grow their own as well.
Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA)
P.O. Box 346
10 Main St.
Newport, VT 05855
1-800-639-4065
Alcohol and Drug Services - Dir., Cheryl Grondin
Community Action Youth Services - Dir., Rick Geisel
Child and Family Development Program - Dir., Connie Zwick
Micro Business Development Program - contact, Bruce Greenwood
Family Development Programs
Northeast Kingdom Youth Services
Outreach - Director, Elaine Pelkey
Parent/Child Center - Dir., Connie Zwick
St. Johnsbury After School Childcare - Dir., Norma St.Germain
Step O.N.E. - Director of Adm., Debra Zimmerman
The Alcohol and Drug Program is state approved through the agency of Human Services. In addition to basic diagnosis, evaluation, individual counseling, family therapy, group work, and relapse treatment, NEKCA offers special services for women and for youth. PEG Groups, or Prevention Education Groups, are available for adults and adolescents. They consist of nine weeks of education/treatment. ASA, or Alcohol Services Act, is a public inebriate program mandated by the State of Vermont and run by NEKCA, where individuals picked up for public intoxication are placed in protective custody for a short time. An Alcohol Crisis Team, ACT, provides intensive services to individuals referred through the ASA program. First time DWI offenders are referred to CRASH, an education/intervention program. DWI screening is provided through NEKCA as required by the state. The Employee Assistance Program, EAP, offers training, consultation, and individual counseling services to employees through their employer. SAFE, Substance Abuse Family Emergency, addresses an entire families needs in a time of emergency or crisis, ensuring their safety, and providing links to appropriate community services.
There are four parts to Community Action Youth Services of NEKCA. CAYS, created in 1983, responds to cases involving youth and their families. As part of the VT Coalition of Runaway Youth Programs, CAYS provides 24 hour crisis relief to runaway and homeless youth. Working together with the family, CAYS tries to solve issues and if necessary places youths in shelter homes and occasionally with the SRS. For youth transitioning from state custody, CAYS offers a program called Transitional Independent Living Program, or TIL, helping them live independently. The Orleans County Court Diversion program places youth offenders in community service type positions as part of a contract for the dismissal of charges. SYEP, or Summer Youth Employment, focuses on youth in the Transitional Program providing career guidance and positive work experience. Two full-time Americorps members, in the NEK Initiative administered by Lyndon State College, are part of the staff at CAYS.
The Child and Family Development Program is a comprehensive program aimed at early childhood nutrition, physical and mental health, etc. with involvement by parents stressed. Not only is the healthy development of the child an issue at CFDP. The strengthening of the family unit through identification and solution to any problems is also a goal.
In the Micro Business Development Program of NEKCA a person can receive technical assistance to start or expand a business. During the past year, NEKCA has helped 16 businesses obtain $306,700 in loans. Funding comes from the State of Vermont, Dept. Of Employment and Training, Small Business Administration, and Dept. Of Social Welfare.
The Family Development Programs at NEKCA consist of five services. Family educators work in people's homes to address issues of safety and child development and care in the Family Support Program. The Dept. Of Social Welfare and Vermont State Parent Child Centers have linked together to form Reach Up Services at NEKCA, to create Vermont's "Welfare to Work" program. This service helps young families develop a Family Development Plan meanwhile providing support and guidance as they move towards self-sufficiency. In the Family Intensive Program, Family Advocates work with families where out-of-home placement of children is imminent. Abuse, neglect, mental illness, and violence are common problems dealt with. The Family Advocates help the families identify their strengths and weaknesses for the improvement of their relationships. The Child Care Training and Child Care Resource and Referral Services help train child care providers and create a resource for parents seeking child care that is nearby and safe. The Family Support Child Care Program provides preventative services to families with young children who are at risk of being neglected or abused. A Child Care Advocate helps identify other services in NEKCA that would be useful and helps develop a family plan in which each family member identify areas of need so that they can be referred to appropriate services.
The NEK Youth Services consist of a Diversion Program fro first time juvenile and adult offenders, a Community Partnership that works with the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to reach people in all areas of the community and teach them substance abuse prevention, and Summer Youth Employment Program for youths ages 14-21 providing employment placement, academic remediation, and career enhancement. In addition the NEKYS runs a Corrections program for inmates to communicate with their children and partners, Transitional Services that brings information, skills, and emotional support to young adults who are moving from state services to independent living, and the Caledonia County Family Mediation Project which provides mediation services to families experiencing a separation, divorce or other situation. In the NEKYS Outreach program, after school activities focusing on anger management, substance abuse, theater arts, and teen issues meet every afternoon. Theater Outreach consists of a Teen Awareness Team, TAT, and Adults Communicating with Teens, ACT. TAT express issues like AIDS, drug abuse, suicide, etc. in improvisational skits. The audiences, ranging from schools to civic organizations, are asked ro respond and discuss the skits with the cast. ACT create similar skits with an intergenerational slant. The Transitional Living Program offers long-term shelter, information, training, experience, and emotional support for 16-21 year olds without a safe living environment. Finally a Runaway Youth program provides host homes for youths and crisis help 24 hours a day.
Outreach at NEKCA consists of a general community outreach through churches, civic groups, schools, and individuals, where emergency needs, basic needs, housing, and other issues are addressed. A Transitional Shelter Program screens, assesses, and creates a plan for people in need of help to become self-sufficient. The Soup Kitchen, located at the VFW building on Eastern Ave. in Newport, is available three days per week for breakfast and lunch, as well as several holiday dinners. As well, a summer food program in various locations in the three counties supplies free nutritious meals for kids up to age 18. Self-sufficiency is advocated through the Garden Program which distributes seeds to families for home grown food. The Rural Postal Service collects donated food from residences for a national food drive.
NEKCA is also involved with the Parent Child Centers in the NEK. There is a PCC north and a PCC south division, both focusing on parents as the child's primary teacher. BIB, or Beginning in Barnet, offers programs housed at Barnet School to parents and children up to age eight. Another children oriented program affiliated with NEKCA is the St. Johnsbury After School Childcare program, offering after school day care with subsidies available to cover the cost for eligible parents.
Lastly, Step O.N.E. provides general and crisis support services for adult victims of domestic and sexual assault who live in Orleans and Northern Essex Counties. Information and referrals, supportive listening, group support, advocacy, 24-hour crisis support, safe homes/shelters, and community education are all available.
Comments to: crs@uvm.edu Reviewed on 4/16/97