COVER Home Repair organizes volunteers to help low-income homeowners address their most urgent home repair and accessibility needs. Nearly every weekend of the year, our 300+ volunteers help perform 80+ urgent home repairs and 50+ weatherization projects across the Upper Valley.

We focus our services on low-income, often elderly and disabled, homeowners living in homes in need of immediate, critical attention. When our volunteers arrive, the home is often close to uninhabitable due to a range of issues: collapsing floors, severe water damage from leaking roofs, holes in walls or ceiling that make the house unheatable, and doors and windows that won’t close. These issues pose serious safety concerns for all residents, but the impacts are especially consequential for homeowners who are elderly and those living with disabilities. COVER is often the only place these homeowners can turn to for immediate assistance. We work with these homeowners to conduct the repairs needed to make the home warm, safe, and comfortable for its residents.

In 2019 we prevented approximately 410 individuals from becoming homeless by completing 87 urgent home repairs and 69 weatherization projects in the Upper Valley. Yet since 2020, we’ve seen the biggest surge in need for our ramps and other urgent home repair services in our 23-year history. At the same time, supply chain shortages have driven up the prices of lumber and building materials we need to replace roofs and build wheelchair-accessible ramps.

Support from We Care 2 will help fund the building materials for the 80+ urgent home repair projects we have planned for 2022. Your support will ensure that we can help as many of our low-income neighbors as possible in this time of incredible, unprecedented need.

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) is a statewide, non-profit membership association. Our mission calls us to work towards a Vermont food system that is economically viable, ecologically sound, and socially just. Our Local Food Access Programs meet the essential need of limited-income Vermonters for fresh, healthy food while simultaneously supporting our local agricultural economy. Our programs seek to make the local food system more accessible and inclusive to all Vermonters.

We will use We Care 2 funds to provide half-priced Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares through our community-driven Farm Share Program. Developed nearly 30 years ago, this program provides affordable CSA shares for low-income participants while also ensuring that farmers receive the full market price for their shares. Farm Share participants choose the farm they want to join and participate just like any other community member. This program provides consistent, reliable, and dignified access to fresh, healthy food while supporting family farms in our state that are also often struggling to make ends meet.

Pathways Vermont’s mission statement is to end homelessness in Vermont and provide innovative mental health alternatives. Especially now, there are Vermonters who are relying on our programs and services every day so they can change their lives for the better. The Pathways Vermont staff practices a peer approach to relationships with service recipients. We value lived experience, recognize each person as their own expert, and foster connection through empathy and authenticity. Our core programs are Housing First, 24/7 Support Line, Community Center, Soteria House, and Peer Assisted Vocational Exploration.

Prevent Child Abuse Vermont (PCAVT) delivers proven, trauma-informed programs, including Family Support Programs, The Adult Responsibility Project, Safe Environments for Infants and Toddlers, The Healthy Relationships Project, Parent’s Helpline, Parent’s Corner Blog, and VT Parent’s Home Companion and Resource Directory.

Prevent Child Abuse Vermont’s programs are conducted in collaboration with other local and statewide organizations. PCAVT’s programs are unique in that they are skills-based and teach adults about how to nurture healthy development in children and emphasize adult responsibility for keeping children safe.

PCAVT’s programs are available across Vermont and have been virtual during the pandemic. Information on all the programs and trainings, as well as the Parent’s Corner blog, is available at pcavt.org.

Vermont Recovery Network, which recently started doing business as Recovery Partners of Vermont, is the statewide voice for nine community-based recovery centers. They serve a vital educational, supportive, and collaborative role on behalf of centers and as an effective statewide recovery-focused system of care for Vermonters and their families affected by substance use disorders. Centers supported include Turning Point of Franklin County (St. Albans), Kingdom Recovery Center (St. Johnsbury), Turning Point of Bennington (Bennington), Journey to Recovery Community Center (Newport), Turning Point Center of Rutland (Rutland), Turning Point Recovery Center of Springfield (Springfield), Turning Point Center of Central Vermont (Barre), and Upper Valley Turning Point (White River Junction).

Recovery Partners of Vermont staff work to ensure Vermont’s recovery centers have the essential tools, training, and financial resources needed to be vibrant, trusted, and effective community providers for people in recovery from substance use disorders and their families. We envision a strong and successful recovery-oriented system that supports self-directed pathways to recovery, promoting the strengths and resilience of Vermont individuals, families, and communities impacted by substance use disorders.