The Rutland Council sponsored several events at the end of the year. We partnered with the local children’s museum, Wonderfeet Kids’ Museum, which encourages children to appreciate their role in the local and global community by creating a dynamic environment that fosters curiosity and exploration, inspires creativity and engages the imagination through play. The council offered an open house before Christmas for 233 children and families. The evening consisted of cookies, ornament making, exciting exhibits and best of all, a chance to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. By all reports, the evening was a huge success and the council would like to make it an annual event.
In an effort to help support providers in the region with required training, the council also offered First Aid and CPR certification in December. Twenty council members and others took part. There are plans to host an Act 1 training along with a series of other programs provided by Prevent Child Abuse Vermont in the coming months. Offering these professional development opportunities also supports the Regional Action Plan.
In January, council member Nanci Gordon of 211 Vermont/Help Me Grow walked through how to use the 211 services. The Vermont 2-1-1 database contains detailed descriptions of programs and services available to Vermonters that are provided by local community groups, social service and health-related agencies, government organizations, and others. We are constantly adding new resources to our database, but at last count, it contains 1010 agencies that provide 10031 services across 2941 programs. Resource Specialists gather information by regularly attending community meetings throughout the state and contacting agencies directly to complete a formal update process at least annually.
Services fall under the following general categories
- Basic Needs
- Consumer Services
- Criminal Justice and Legal Services
- Education
- Environment/Public Health/Public Safety
- Health Care
- Income Support and Employment
- Individual and Family Life
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
- Organizational/Community Services
Types of agencies in the database include:
- Federal, state and local entities
- Community Action Agencies
- Non-Profit organizations
- Churches, service organizations and civic groups that provide services to the public
- Out-of-state entities that offer services to Vermonters
Help Me Grow VT has a total of 1755 referrals for 2018.
Help Me Grow VT had 1026 incoming calls and 716 outgoing/follow-ups for 2018.
Website: Vermont211.org www.facebook.com/HelpMeGrowVT/
Nanci is available to come to any program and give an overview of 211/Help Me Grow. She can be reached at nanci@unitedwaysvt.org
