Every year, Co-op Currents profiles an organization that receives funding from WEC’s Community Fund. In 2024, after several years of major events—floods, a pandemic—we decided to revisit three grantees we profiled in the past to learn if, and how, their needs and services have changed.
The three organizations we returned to are Central Vermont Community Radio, profiled in 2022, the Vermont Foodbank, profiled in 2020, and Turning Point Center of Central Vermont, profiled in 2018 by Will Lindner.
The Community Fund is made up entirely of member contributions. About 14% of WEC’s members donate their capital credit refunds to the Community Fund; others make donations out of pocket. This generosity allows the Community Fund to make grants to nonprofits serving the communities in WEC’s service area. To learn how to donate your capital credits, or to make a contribution to WEC’s Community Fund, contact Administrative Assistant Dawn Johnson at 802-224-2332 or Dawn.Johnson@wec.coop.
Central Vermont Community Radio
Central Vermont Community Radio, known as WGDR in Plainfield and WGDH in Hardwick, has been a staple for local listeners for decades. The station has operated under community ownership since 2021, when Goddard College gave it to the community. Station Manager Llu Mulvaney-Stanak calls it a “50-year-old startup.”
In 2022, Co-op Currents profiled CVCR after a Community Fund grant helped the radio station through its ownership transition. At that time, community members had swiftly formed a nonprofit board, navigated FCC filings, and started fundraising.
The station’s charm lies in diverse and thoughtful programming reflective of the Central Vermont community. Far from mainstream media, its programming includes eclectic music shows to talk programs tackling social justice and culture. Mulvaney-Stanak and CVCR show hosts pointed to the station’s role in fostering community dialogue and providing a counterbalance to mainstream media narratives.
This summer, CVCR faced three crises: the pending sale of Goddard’s campus, where the station is located; catastrophic flooding in Plainfield; and a broken audio processor that took WGDH off the air. That third crisis, Mulvaney-Stanak said, was, like floods, related to climate change.
The WGDH equipment is located in a shed on a mountainside in Wolcott. In a sign of just how rapidly the climate has changed in 14 years, the building was heated for winter—but not cooled. “What happened is everything cranked up, heatwise. The audio processor literally fried,” said Mulvaney-Stanak. An audio processor should tolerate 24/7/365 performance for 20 years, they said, “but not baking in a shed.”
A new audio processor costs $3,500: a large and unanticipated expense for CVCR. But rooted as it is within its community, Mulvaney-Stanak and board members are concerned about asking CVCR’s friends and neighbors for too much help. “We’re cautious about donor fatigue,” said Mulvaney-Stanak, especially when there is so much dire need in Plainfield after two years of major floods.
CVCR leaders decided to create a new pool of funds for emergency expenses, like the audio processor, and future-proofing. It’s called the CVCR Future Fund, and the board’s goal is to fund it with gifts from new donors.
With an online listening community in addition to its broadcast footprint, CVCR’s reach is wider than ever—even with WGDH temporarily off the air. Mulvaney-Stanak, a fundraiser in addition to their work in radio, is optimistic there are new potential donors in that listening community. “We’re not expecting our current donors to pony up yet again. We didn’t think this would happen, but we have to keep fundraising for this and keep meeting our annual budget.” Being transparent with their community, they added, is what matters the most.
“I know we have a partner in Washington Electric,” Mulvaney-Stanak said. It’s helpful that the Community Fund is easy to apply to, and trusts grant recipients to use funding where it’s needed, they commented.
In the meantime, the board purchased a new audio processor and WGDH is back on the air, the CVCR Future Fund is accepting funds to cover the cost of new equipment and help future-proof the station, and the Goddard campus is pending sale to a community group with a stated commitment to support CVCR and other tenants.
To listen to Central Vermont Community Radio: tune in to WGDR 91.1, WGDH 91.7, or listen online at CentralVermontCommunityRadio.org
To donate to Central Vermont Community Radio or the CVCR Future Fund: CentralVermontCommunityRadio.org
Read the original profile from July 2022: washingtonelectric.coop/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/7-2022-WEC-Currents-for-web.pdf
Vermont Foodbank
In 2020, WEC made a significant contribution to the Vermont Foodbank, aiding in the distribution of food across Vermont as the pandemic caused an unprecedented rise in food insecurity: 46% statewide, and 60% in children, according to Nicole Whalen, then the Foodbank’s director of communications and public affairs. At the time, she said, “So many more people now are struggling with hunger who haven’t been in that position before and don’t know where to turn. Reach out for help. We can connect you with the resources you need to feed yourself and your family—that’s why we’re here.”
Vermont Foodbank is the state’s only foodbank—distributing food directly to neighbors and through a network of more than 220 food shelves, meal sites, and other partner food access agencies around the state. Hunger, said Sarah Keblin, chief philanthropy officer at the Foodbank, “is a symptom of not having access to the food we all need and want at any given time, and is impacted by not having enough income and economic security, as well as physical and environmental barriers to food resources.”
Keblin said that over the last four years, food insecurity in Vermont, and around the country, has remained high. Pandemic-era supports ended abruptly, inflation and increased costs of everyday necessities have stretched household budgets, and multiple flooding events in our state over the last two years have compounded how hard it is for some communities to access food.
Food shelves report increased visits of anywhere from 10-110% in the last year, and Vermont Foodbank’s fresh produce distributions continue to steadily serve between 5,000 and 8,000 people a month—a significant increase from before the pandemic, Keblin said.
It’s not a good trend. But what is good, Keblin offered, is that people in Vermont are actively doing something about it. Thanks to community support, including from the members who fund WEC’s Community Fund, the Foodbank can continue its mission connecting Vermont neighbors with access to food. “This year, Vermont Foodbank is set to distribute close to 15 million pounds of food,” said Keblin, “which represents an increase of 20% over projected distribution, with more than half of that being fresh food.” The Foodbank also continues to purchase and distribute local produce from more than 300 farms across Vermont, helps individuals navigate access to benefits, and partners on advocacy for policies and funding to help end hunger.
“A food-secure Vermont is possible, and Vermont Foodbank will continue to partner and
advocate to that end,” said Keblin. “Until then, we, along with countless partners, volunteers, advocates and neighbors, will continue to gather and share nourishing foods. If you or someone you know could use food help—visit our website at vermontfoodbank.org or call us directly at 1-800-585-2265.”
To find food, learn more, or donate to Vermont Foodbank:
vermontfoodbank.org, or call toll-free at 1-800-585-2265.
Read the original profile from July 2020: washingtonelectric.coop/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/July2020.pdf
Turning Point Center of Central Vermont
In spring 2017, then-WEC General Manager Patty Richards called Robert Purvis, Executive Director of the Turning Point Center of Central Vermont, to ask him to apply for a grant from WEC’s Community Fund. Turning Point provides peer-based supports for people in the recovery community, including health education and opportunities to support sober socializing and recreation. The funding allowed Turning Point to rebuild its website and better reach audiences seeking their services.
At that point, Turning Point had an operating budget of under $100,000, and struggled with stagnant funding streams. Now, Turning Point has a budget of more than $600,000, 12 employees, and stable grant funding. “A lot has happened,” said Purvis. “Those early grants to us from the Community Fund were hugely helpful in helping us get to where we are.”
Purvis is proud of Turning Point’s response during the pandemic: recovery coaches quickly pivoted to meet with support seekers on video conferencing platforms. “Our hospital program didn’t miss a beat,” said Purvis. “Within two weeks of the executive [stay-at-home] order, we had an IPad in the emergency department, and could connect with people there.”
More devastating was the 2023 flood, which forced Turning Point out of their Barre office. Staff kept working with borrowed facilities from community partners, but it was hard, Purvis said: “It’s terrible for morale to not have a place to go. But our staff hung in there.” A flood grant from the Community Fund also helped Turning Point replace furniture and relocate during this time. They moved into two sites: a place in Barre’s “Sidewalk Village” where people can meet privately with recovery coaches, and a recovery community center on Ayers Street.
But the big news, Purvis said, is Turning Point is purchasing a historic building in Barre and has plans to create a big, vibrant space for people in recovery. “My goal is a community center with activity going all the time, a hub for people in recovery, for people who don’t know where to go,” described Purvis. “People can get what they need, and also have fun.” He envisions a space full of activity—writing for recovery, yoga, crafts—to draw people in and enrich the community aspect of recovery.
The space is near Spaulding High School, and that’s intentional. Turning Point is part of a coalition seeking funds to reach several central Vermont high schools with recovery and prevention programs. “Youth programs are the least available of any programs, and they’re very much needed,” Purvis explained. He envisions partnering with schools to offer programming that helps teenagers learn to support each other, and works with the whole family: critical, he explained, “to break the cycle of intergenerational transmission of addiction.”
Construction funding in place, Purvis confirmed Turning Point will lead a community campaign to cover furnishings, fixtures, and energy conservation features in the new community center. Looking back to 2017, he reflected with pride, “We’re so much farther along than we were before.”
To find help, learn more, or donate to Turning Point: tpccv.org or call (802) 622-0251
Read the original profile from July 2018: washingtonelectric.coop/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/July2018.pdf