You didn’t ask for it, but you’re getting it anyway: a resident’s top 25 reasons Norwich is a good spot to be in 2022.

1. Quick: when’s the last time you locked your house?

2. Fifty-degree temperature swings in 24 hours. Better to love it than hate it!

3. The publicly funded portion of the library’s budget passed with more than 90% of the vote last March. What a nice way to answer the question, “Are we for or against reading?” 

4. Admit it: during the Norwich Fair, you kind of feel like you, personally, are part of hosting a party in your town.

5. Both Hazen and Huntley Streets are horseshoes. Giddyup.

6. King Arthur Baking Company has got your last-minute gift, cup of coffee, and artisanal bread all in one spot.

7. When you live here, you learn to navigate the Farmer’s Market with a local’s skill: secret parking spots, free samples from your favorite vendors, knowledge of where your food comes from and what to do with it.

8. The bird’s eye view of the autumn foliage from Gile Mountain fire tower is tough to beat.

9. When you walk the block, you are guaranteed to wave to people you know. Every time.

10. A pizza pulled fresh and hot from the community oven bursts with cooking’s two most important ingredients: patience and love.

11. Sample’s Jump: You either know what that is, or you don’t, but regardless, it’s cool to have in your town.

12. Ever heard someone say, “I hate having a locally owned bookstore in my town.”? Didn’t think so.

13. Main Street festooned with flags on a holiday.

14. Nearly New Sale, 19 Days of Norwich, concerts on the Green, pancake breakfasts, ice skating parties, Bike to School Day, the Pageant, Lego Tuesdays, Town Meeting, Citizen of the Year galas, the Turkey Trot…a scratch for every itch.

15. Carpenter Street on Halloween will deliver your annual fix for ghosts, goblins, and ghouls.

16. Seeing people in black tie on a Saturday afternoon in September, gathered in the center of 05055, nerves and passions aflame, and having the wherewithal to realize that those people had chosen to come HERE to the place where you LIVE to celebrate LOVE. Cue the tissues.

17. We name our important spaces after the people who educate our children: Milton Frye Natural Area, Girard Field, Partridge Hill, Bill Ballard Trail.

18. No matter if you are on the busiest road or on 100 acres, respect of and for privacy are the norm, not the exception.

19. The real fountain of youth is right over there, at the Montshire.

20. Honestly, is it normal to know the names of the people who work at the Transfer Station? Well, when you do, a chore becomes an opportunity to make a human connection. One of them even speaks French! Seems like a good trade.

21. There is an excellent chance we will count a United States Senator in our midst next year.

22. Have you ever noticed how you are friendly with both life-long locals and new arrivals to town? Something ain’t broke.

23. Mother Nature and an army of volunteers have blessed us with stress-relief all over town: Cossingham, Parcel 5, Brookmead, Heyl, Converse Loop… a trail to improve every mood!

24. Apparently, there’s a halfway-decent general store in the village.

25. You. Yes, you. You live here and make this place vibrate with life, optimism, and beauty. Thanks for reading and making so much of the above possible. Here’s to another 25 years of the Norwich Times!

About five months ago, Paul Foster of Norwich received a shocking text. Marcel Jean, director and manager of the Tysea Orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti, was reaching out to Foster to let him know the funding the orphanage relied on to operate, was suddenly about to disappear. Their main benefactor was pulling out and the orphanage would have to close.

Foster had met Jean five years prior and gotten involved in Tysea by helping with educational costs; now Jean was reaching out to see if Foster might be able to assist him raise the funds to save the orphanage. Foster was immediately ready to help prevent the closing of the orphanage: “I couldn’t let that happen, I wouldn’t let that happen,” he said. 

The Tysea Orphanage was founded in 2013 in the Carrefour neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. Tysea is an acronym for the creole phrase “Timoun Yo Se Espwa Ayiti” meaning “Children are Haiti’s Hope.” Tysea is now home to over 30 children, providing them with a safe home, regular meals, clean water, access to education and recreation, and dental and medical support.

Answering Jean’s call, Foster sprung into action. In addition to grassroots fundraising, Foster formed a non-profit, Partners for Global Change, to help him in this mission to save the orphanage. Foster and his team have already raised $12,000 with many of the donations coming from Norwich and Thetford, but they still have a ways to go.

“I’m going with the idea of the Upper Valley adopting the orphanage,” Foster says, “I hope to make the Tysea Orphanage a household name in the Upper Valley.” There are already indications Foster’s work is paying off; he recalls being stopped in Dan & Whit’s by fellow residents to talk to him about Tysea.

Important to Foster is creating sustainable funding for the orphanage. The project had a lot of momentum to begin with, he says, but now it’s time to use strategy to figure out how to sustain this with ongoing support. In addition to looking into grants, Foster has built a weekly donation plan that he feels can be taken on by residents of the Upper Valley. With different levels of sponsorship, donors are able to give between $10.00 and $40.00 from their paycheck directly to the orphanage. “If a person can give a certain amount each week such as the cost of going out for one meal, it really can save the life of a child in Haiti. It is really going to help the child,” Foster says.

The situation is desperate in Haiti, Foster says, after facing serious unrest in 2021. The orphanage already had to make the move from Port-Au-Prince, where it was no longer safe, to Jacmel. Foster initially had plans to visit and considered setting up a Dartmouth medical school students service trip, but has been unable to due to the safety restrictions. “It’s hard not to visit, and I would love to meet the kids, play with them, and be a part of the community,” he says. This unrest also affects the orphanage’s ability to get support from their government; absolutely no funds are currently available to them.

Foster has spent nearly all of his life involved in community work. It was his first trip to Africa at age 17 that started his passion for helping communities in need around the world. “I fundamentally believe every child in the world deserves clean water, education, and a roof over their head. It’s at the core of who I am,” Foster says.

A native Englishman, Foster found his way to Norwich alongside his wife 35 years ago. Being a resident of the Upper Valley has also influenced Foster in building Partners for Global Change. “A lot of people in the Upper Valley are creating their own non-profits,” he says, “It’s a very empathetic community, very open to these kinds of projects.”

His hope is to sustainably fund the orphanage, improve current facilities, and ultimately have the home become a family support center. Some children have living family members who aren’t able to care for them for a number of reasons. “Ideally the children could be back in their community with support from the center, ultimately reducing the number of children in the orphanage. That feels like the right goal to have,” Foster says.

Foster has hope that Partners for Global Change will be able to take on more projects like this in the future, connecting Upper Valley residents to projects throughout the global neighborhood, all over the world. 

Friends of Tysea plans to have a stall at the Lebanon and Hanover Farmer’s market selling Haitian art products, Haitian food, and Support Tysea T-Shirts and hold a Haitian Art Auction.

Readers can donate at PartnersinGlobalChange.com or send a check to Partners in Global Change, 108 Academy Rd Norwich VT05055. Those interested in volunteering can email savetyseaorphangehaiti@gmail.com.

Partners for Global Change offers levels of support & readers can sponsor a child:

Gold Sponsor $40 per week

Silver Sponsor $20 per week

Bronze Sponsor $10 per week

Sustaining member one time gift of $100-500

“How can we help?” Reverend Jan Hutslar and the folks at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley in Norwich were able to answer this question by hosting the retrofitted RV that Simon Dennis, director of the Center for Transformation Practice (CTP) in Hartford, and his team put together to house two previously un-housed persons. 

The RV has been outfitted into two apartments that can each house a person comfortably with the necessary amenities for most activities of daily life. The church first became involved in the project after Dennis sent a letter to the congregation gauging their interest in hosting the RV home. “Dennis had been a guest speaker around issues the un-housed face in our community at the church early this past fall. It really sparked a lot of conversations. People spoke with Dennis following the service and asked, ‘How can we be involved? How can we help?’” Rev. Hutslar says. 

After Dennis presented the project to the board, the response was immediately positive. “I was really impressed,” Rev. Hutslar says, “The board said there’s no question if we can be of help here, we want to do it. It’s what our values tell us.” Rev. Hutslar met with Dennis and the prospective tenants. “We talked and got to know each other,” Rev. Hutslar says, and the tenants moved onto the property. 

The congregation welcomed the tenants, and they became part of the church community. Several members of the congregation connected with the tenants in particular – a member who works as the church groundskeeper knitted hats for the tenants. The church grounds feature a big apple tree whose apples often go to the Haven food shelves and that the congregation may use as they wish; Rev. Hutslar recalls one of the tenants, who grew up on a farm, utilizing some of those apples to make applesauce over their small Coleman stove. 

Originally from Indiana, Rev. Hutlsar first came to the Upper Valley four years ago after graduating from her seminary program in California. She interviewed with four different churches in New England but fell in love with the church here in Norwich. “Luckily they wanted me, too,” she laughs, “I love it and I love them. They’re pretty wonderful. It’s really rewarding and it’s an honor. I’m really grateful.” 

The RV and its tenants were allowed to stay at the church in Norwich for 30 days, according to town regulations. Rev. Hutslar noted it has been difficult for CPT to find places to park the RVs. “Churches and communities want to help, but town regulations do get in the way of that.” She hopes that this story will draw more attention to the issues around housing people in the Upper Valley and that the town ordinances, such as the 30-day limit, that exist can be addressed “so we can keep our neighbors a little safer and a little more protected from the elements.” This extremely cold weather, Rev. Hutslar notes, makes it even more imperative to help community members who don’t have a warm place to live. 

The RV and its tenants moved to the First Congregational Church in Lebanon following their stay in Norwich. After their time allowed in Lebanon ended as well, the RV has found another new home for the time being. “We all said goodbye and hugged,” Rev. Hustlar says, “The next time I went into church, it felt so lonely. They were our neighbors for a month. It was a little sad; I missed them.” 

Even with the tenants no longer living at the church, the positive impact of their stay continues. Rev. Hutslar still checks in with tenants regularly and members of the congregation remain connected to them. A group of congregation members help the tenants out with rides in and out of town for errands and job interviews. One member was with a tenant when she received the job offer which she has since accepted. “It’s nice to see how we can help each other out,” Rev. Hutslar says. The congregation has also since collected warm blanks, clothing, and rugs to help keep the units warm this winter. “I know people like to help,” Rev. Hutslar says, “It’s a big problem and if we can help one or two people, it makes a difference.”  

When Norm Levy decides to learn about a new topic, he does his research. As a member of the Norwich Energy Committee and an emerging Upper Valley philanthropist, Norm is a passionate advocate for extending access to lower cost solar electricity for low/moderate income Vermonters and Upper Valley nonprofits. A retired laboratory physician who has invested wisely over the course of his career, Norm set about wanting to ‘have fun and do good’, landing on a non-traditional investment model called “community impact investing,” specifically focused on installing solar arrays. 

Says Norm, “I believe lower income Vermonters care as passionately about climate change as their more affluent neighbors, but feel they have to focus their finances on the basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, and childcare. I am fortunate that in retirement I have the means to help others, so I decided I was going to be the lone ranger in a wool cap and find a way to extend energy efficiency to low- and middle-income families in my own community of Norwich.”

What began as an LED bulb gifting program, distributing over 3,000 bulbs to Upper Valley families, has evolved into something much larger, and Norm has become conversant in the many aspects of solar power and its financing, including net metering, how solar arrays work, and tax credits for investors who support clean energy infrastructure. 

Norm’s chosen investment approach resulted in a novel partnership with Norwich Solar Technologies, which has completed two community solar arrays with Norm’s new company, Norm & Sun LLC. The first project was a standalone array that provided electricity for 25% less than commercial rates to 14 families living at Starlake Lane built by Twin Pines Housing. The project provides solar powered electricity to the non-profit COVER Home Repair in White River Junction as well. 

The second project is located on Turnpike Road, on land owned by Jay Mead and Edie Farwell and uses a different model – a larger “mixed” community array. Some solar panels are owned by 25 individual homeowners, while 110 panels are owned by Norm & Sun, LLC, providing electricity for the Good Neighbor Health Clinic in White River Junction. Edie says, “We were looking to see how we could further contribute to clean energy in Norwich. We’re so pleased that we could use an acre of land for a solar installation. It feels like a win-win-win all around. Norwich Solar Technologies has been an excellent partner to work with on this.”

Norm’s research has shown that socially responsible investing is more than a $17 trillion industry in the United States. “People want to put their money towards good works as well as investing in their future. Unfortunately, most of the investments go into large multinational corporations, and it is very difficult to direct investments into one’s local community. If more investors knew about these opportunities, it would give them a chance to make a positive difference in their own communities,” says Norm.

Community solar financed by private investors is a relatively new approach on the Vermont solar scene and more solar developers are beginning to adopt the model. Because the upfront costs of a solar project for an individual homeowner can be prohibitive even with government incentives, community impact investing allows homeowners and apartment dwellers to save money on electric bills and use clean solar power without the substantial capital outlay. 

Norm is an advocate of public-private partnerships to achieve his philanthropic aims. “Partnership with a private community investor is the key,” says Norm. Since the 1990s, tax laws have included incentives in the form of tax credits to encourage private investment in renewable energy, offsetting one’s federal income taxes. Low- and moderate-income residents pay lower taxes, and hence can access fewer credits. Norm explains, “So I figured that once I understood how this worked, I could ‘right size’ a solar project to an investment size I felt comfortable with, take advantage of the tax credits, and share the benefits with non-profits and lower income residents in the form of lower cost renewable energy.”

At the recent grand opening of the Turnpike Road project, Kevin Davis, VP of Sales for Norwich Solar Technologies shared some insights on why the Solar Santa model is a good one. “From an economic point of view, so much of the cost we pay for electricity goes to sources from out of the state, but community solar projects generate electricity locally. It keeps our dollars circulating in the local economy and creates renewable energy here in Vermont, making energy independence more feasible.”

Residential customers receive net metering credits to offset their utility bills, and Norm plans to transfer his credits to benefit the Good Neighbor Health Clinic. Landowners Jay Mead and Edie Farwell leased the land to Norwich Solar Technologies to construct the array. Says Jay, “We’re concerned about climate change, and we had this piece of land that had a good solar aspect. It does change the landscape, and I think it’s important that we see what the cost of our electrical consumption is.” 

For Norm, the big goal is to inspire additional public-private collaborations to extend renewable energy and utility cost savings to a larger number of communities and non-profits for decades to come. “If you are a beneficiary of the economy, you too can share your good fortune with non-profits and low-income homeowners.” 

Norm is the best kind of investor/philanthropist – a patient one. While the original return on his investment at Starlake Lane was projected at five years, he chose to provide a higher reduction in utility bills for the residents and COVER Home Repair, stretching his return to seven years, but he is fine with that – especially if it supports his mission to have fun and do good.

To learn more about how Norm supports clean energy for low- and middle-income families, email mnblevy@icloud.com. 

Working with the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont will study the social impact it has on the community and assist in refining a social impact tool for the museum field.

Thanks to a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS), the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, in partnership with Thanksgiving Point, had the opportunity to select museums across the country for the Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) project. After a competitive application and review process, the Montshire was one of 38 museums selected for the study.

This study will measure social impact through strengthened relationships, health and well-being, continued education and engagement, and intercultural competency.

Working with the MOMSI team in Utah, the Museum will recruit and survey visitors from the local community. The data collected will inform Montshire on its social impact and will provide validated data about the museum field generally.

“We are deeply honored to be selected to participate in this national study,” says Jennifer Rickards, Montshire’s Acting Executive Director. “Although we’re confident in the value that the Montshire offers the community, this study of social impact will help us define, measure, and articulate that value more clearly and provide insights that will allow us to enhance the programs and experiences we offer.”

The Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) offered the following information on the type of information they are collecting and how they measure impact:

Health and Wellbeing

This outcome is measured through statements regarding physical health, such as diet and exercise habits, along with mental and emotional health. It recognizes that museums are restorative spaces and are places of community activities.

Intercultural Competence

Visiting museums expands awareness of cultures and ways of life. This outcome is measured by understanding empathy, connection to community, personal strengths and limitations, and perspective of self and others.

Continued Education and Engagement

Learning occurs across various spaces and time, including in museums and through the programs they offer. This outcome is measured by understanding in what ways wonder, curiosity, and interest are stimulated in museum visitors.

Strengthened Relationships

This outcome strives to understand the positive interactions people have with others. It is measured through statements about social and family relationships, the bond between people, and the ways in which relationships are nurtured.

In October 2018, Nick Krembs, a retired carpenter and builder from Norwich, traveled to the United States border in El Paso, Texas. That year marked a huge surge in migrants seeking asylum from their home countries. Due to the drug cartels, corrupt police, torture, oppression, gang violence, and abuse, as well as the devastation and destruction of farms and their livelihoods from hurricanes – they fled.

Krembs’s sister, Jane Greiling, a retired nurse, had been volunteering in El Paso with the Annunciation House: a faith-based nonprofit organization that provides shelter, clothing, and food to migrants predominantly from Mexico and Central America. Krembs joined her for two weeks at the border and volunteered in the migrant shelter, Casa Vides in El Paso.

• • • • •

One day, Krembs met Hugo in the “Ropa room” of the Casa Vides shelter. Hugo, 50, was traveling alone, seeking asylum from oppression in Guatemala. He had never been to the U.S. before. Loud, warm, and jovial despite his circumstances, Hugo immediately took on a self-appointed, leadership role in the shelter: taking care of other migrants, guiding, and reassuring them. He consistently offered to help the volunteer staff with housekeeping duties as well. Though Hugo had never lived anywhere cold, he was trying to reach extended family sponsoring his asylum in Chicago.

Despite a language barrier, Krembs, who speaks little Spanish, sought to prepare Hugo for the polar vortex of subzero temperatures he was about to face. In a tropical country like Guatemala, any temperature below 70 degrees feels cold. Hugo was about to move to Chicago in the dead of winter. They sorted through the Ropa room and found a large wool overcoat for Hugo. “Perfecto,” said Krembs.

• • • • •

After he returned to his home in Norwich, “the need gnawed at me,” said Krembs. So, he went back to the border – this time for eight weeks: from December 2018 through January 2019.

• • • • •

The Casa Vides is a rectangular red brick structure with two floors. Adults with children are roomed together. Otherwise, women have dormitory rooms on the first floor and men on the second. Each floor has just two shared bathrooms with showers. There were always lines of people in the halls. Their moods were often somber except for the children who ran, shrieking through the halls with siblings and new friends.

Bussed directly from the ICE detention centers, the migrants Krembs met – dirty, hungry, anxious, and tired with nothing but what they could carry – were the lucky ones. Others had been denied entry and deported back to their home countries. For permission to enter the U.S., the migrants had to show proof of sponsorship: a family, relative, friend, or a private organization or charitable group.

As though they were criminals on parole, ICE put ankle bracelets on many of the adult asylum-seekers; tracking them even though they had committed no crime. The migrants arrived at the border with few possessions. Some had spare clothes in a plastic garbage bag, but that was it. Rarely did any have money.

Krembs didn’t see any intact families. He saw fathers with children, mothers with children, and children who had been separated at the border as well as unaccompanied minors sent alone by their parents. Due to sacrifices and the costs to get to the border, as well as the border rules and restrictions set by the Trump administration, families were often split apart by the time they reached the shelters.

A huge, “Bienvenidos” sign and big, empathetic smiles from the volunteers greeted migrants upon their arrival at the shelters. They were promptly interviewed and volunteers set to the task of connecting them with their friends and family in the U.S.; their final destinations.

The migrants were each given a bar of soap and a towel and assigned to rooms with bunk beds – up to eight people per room at a time. Travel arrangements were made and paid for by sponsoring host families, relatives, or organizations. So, after two or three days at the shelter, the migrants took a bus or plane to their temporary new homes where they would start the process of applying for asylum.

In addition to offering hospitality; cooking, preparing meals, cleaning, and helping migrants get clean clothing, Krembs shuttled eight passengers in a van two or three times a day to the airport and the bus terminal. And still, he felt compelled to do more.

• • • • •

Once back home in Vermont, Krembs joined The Upper Valley Refugee Working Group, a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Hanover, NH. This organization provides sanctuary and assists immigrants residing in the Upper Valley with acquiring basic subsistence with help from volunteers and financial support in the form of an Immigrant Community Support Fund. There he met and became friends with two other volunteers, Dr. Dean Seibert, also of Norwich, a retired physician and professor from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical School, and Bill Ploog of Lyme, NH.

The three united in a shared mission to improve the lives of asylum-seekers in the U.S. by using the resources and connections they have in the Upper Valley.

“I returned to El Paso each time knowing I could do little to change the gang violence, government neglect, and climate disasters that drove all these people to flee their homeland,” said Krembs. “The action I could take is to show compassion and accompany them in seeking asylum in the US. I can do this here, where I live, as the sponsor of a few of those coming to our border seeking asylum.”

Krembs is 76. Seibert will be 89 this August. However, their ages do not impede them from actively engaging in each step of this life transforming mission, both for the asylees and for themselves.

“This work gives my life purpose,” said Krembs.

• • • • •

And so, in 2020, along with Seibert and Ploog, Krembs formed SHARe: Supporting Helping Asylees and Refugees. (The ‘e’ is small and silent.) SHARe is now an all-volunteer, non-sectarian, non-profit, tax-exempt 501c3 organization. Their goal is that by mid-summer, they will start supporting up to five individuals or a family from any country, to gain asylum in the U.S. “The procedure to do so is much more complex and involved than many realize,” said Krembs.

Filing for asylum takes four to six months. After filing, it can take up to four years to receive asylum. During that time, a person needs to gain a permit to work, which can take up to a year. Until granted a work permit, the individual cannot work legally in the U.S. Unlike refugees who are granted permission to enter the U.S. while in their home countries, and once here, are given governmental support from the State Department, asylum seekers are completely on their own. They must depend on aid from family, private organizations, and/or generous donors.

According to Krembs, there is a backlog of some 1.2 million pending cases in federal immigration courts. Not until a case is adjudicated in a federal court – which can take months or years – can a person become declared a legal immigrant.

• • • • •

In the spring of 2019, the border was essentially closed to anyone trying to enter the U.S.

The border patrol went from allowing 100 to 400 migrants per day into the country to none. All migrants were forced to stay in Mexico. Now, the sentiment toward migrants has shifted and the border is reopened allowing a new influx of people seeking asylum.

SHARe’s primary focus is to find host housing in the Upper Valley for an initial six months or longer, to help support asylum-seekers while they apply for asylum. Once settled, SHARe aims to connect the asylum seekers with pro-bono legal services, English as a Second Language classes, schooling for their children, and clothing, as well as health and medical services.

“The goal is to get those initial five people set up with the support systems they need to live and work comfortably in the Upper Valley while they await asylum,” said Krembs. “We want to help migrants gain asylum and ultimately equip them to become self-sufficient in their lives here.”

Eventually, Krembs, Seibert, and Ploog aim to create a pipeline so that at any given time, there will be at least five asylees receiving SHARe’s assistance in the Upper Valley.

• • • • •

Dr. Dean Seibert has been visiting Honduras twice per year every year for the past 25.

Through his volunteer work with the non-profit ACTS Honduras: Americans Caring Teaching Sharing, Seibert has helped send teams of five to six medical professionals and aid workers per year to El Rosario, a farming village in northwestern Honduras.

The volunteer teams from ACTS now assist the people of El Rosario and a dozen surrounding communities not only with medical care but also with community development including; improving agricultural practices, creating safe drinking water systems and latrines, economic diversification, and access to expanded opportunities for education.

ACTS teams have built trust and developed close working relationships with the people of El Rosario to improve their lives with sustainable solutions for future generations. But still, in most other parts of Honduras, corruption, crime, and poverty prevail.

According to Seibert, a 2016 report by the Carnegie Foundation deemed Honduras a Kleptocracy – meaning, all of the governing bodies within the country: the military, police, gangs, and oligarchs depend on each other to function and survive – thus, mixing corrupt with non-corrupt powers all in the same soil. And so, people’s only option is to flee. The conditions of their daily lives – violence, abuse, starvation, illness, poverty – are so bad that they would opt to risk the treacherous journey to the U.S. border and end up in detention centers or worse, rather than staying in their homeland.

• • • • •

In a tented parking lot, outside a converted elementary school, now a community center and shelter, El Centro San Juan Diego, a line of migrants stood waiting for food. As he prepared to help distribute the food, Krembs connected eyes with a young mother holding a three-year-

old girl. To his surprise, she smiled. Krembs smiled back. He took off one of his blue rubber gloves and blew it up to look like a turkey balloon. He held it out and gave it to the three-year-old. Her eyes lit up and she giggled with glee. n

If you would like to donate your time or skills, or are interested in becoming a volunteer host family, please reach out to SHARe via email them at shareVTNH@gmail.com.

For Norwich resident Deborah McLane Carter, the mission and ensuing work of one of the oldest family- serving non-profits in New Hampshire actually began over a 100 years ago with her grandfather, John McLane, who was instrumental in founding the NH Children’s Aid Society that later merged into the Child and Family Services of NH, now rebranded as Waypoint.

“I’m involved in Waypoint because of family history,” said Carter who is one of its nine board members. “There has always been a McLane on the board, and, when it became my turn, I gladly joined. My beliefs and values – as a part of our enthusiastic, cohesive, hard-working board – echo those of the founders, serving with the ‘shared vision of guarding children’s rights, serving children’s needs, and strengthening the life of the family.’”

Indeed, Waypoint is a significant provider of vital services in the Upper Valley and serves all its residents, according to the center’s director, Jeannette Birge. “We’ve been an active service provider for over 20 years in Lebanon,” Birge said.

The name, Waypoint, signifies a point along a journey at which the course can be changed. “That’s what we do,” said Birge. “We help people and communities to change course.”

As a private, non-profit agency, the services Waypoint offers include adoption, prenatal support, parent/education/family empowerment, services for children with developmental concerns or chronic health conditions, childcare, mental health counseling, family preservation, supervised visitation, foster care, homeless youth continuum, home healthcare for older Americans and adults with disabilities, and advocacy. “Our mission is to empower people of all ages through an array of these services,” said Birge.

According to board member Nina McCampbell of Norwich, Waypoint embodies the ideal of spreading kindness, one of the many reasons why she joined the board. “Whether it’s trauma counseling, foster care, aiding children with disabilities or helping to find the services most needed, this is why Waypoint is so important”, said McCampbell. “Any of us can face difficulties along the way in life.”

Waypoint’s brand is built on four pillars: staff, community, solutions, and impact. The staff is known for its compassion, professionalism, and ingenuity. “We work collaboratively in the community, creating a social safety net for all who live here,” said Birge. “We find solutions to problems through our dual roles as practitioners and advocates – a truly holistic approach to our practice.”

A case in point, for instance, involved a young couple’s very young daughter (under a year old) who was placed into foster care. “In order to be able to maintain a connection between parents and baby, we were able to provide them with supervised visits three to four times a week,” said Birge. “They were able to watch her achieve milestones and, because of the frequency of visits, they were able to be present when she took her first steps.”

There are 14 sites across the state and over 24 programs, serving an average of 8,000 individuals a year.

Funding comes from a variety of sources including state contracts, charitable giving involving individuals and foundations, and insurance payments, Birge related. “Every year we do a variety of little events around the area as well,” said Birge. “Those include the Campout for the Cause at Storr’s Pond, a Father’s Day pancake breakfast at the Norwich Grange, and an Easter egg hunt on the Norwich Green, for example.”

In the coming year, Waypoint is establishing a Family Resource Center of Quality that will be open to all Upper Valley residents with no acceptance criteria and will provide a plethora of family services, focusing on parenting and grandparent groups, play groups, and home visiting, Birge explained. “In essence, we are and will continue to work to resolve immediate and long-term safety concerns, stabilize families, and empower them with tools to optimize their success,” said Birge.

Recently-joined board member and Norwich resident Dan Fraser agrees. “Children must have the essential components to start life successfully,” said Fraser, owner of Dan and Whit’s Country Store in Norwich. “I look forward to working with an amazing team of people at Waypoint to help advance the well-being of children and families throughout our communities.”

Birge expressed her delight with Fraser’s recent membership. “We are so honored to have Dan join an already stellar group of individuals on our Upper Valley board”, she said. “A great advocate for the cause of kids and families, he is fearless in fundraising and tireless in community building. He’s a true change-maker in the Upper Valley.”

Norwich Volunteers Take Active Role in Orchard Work

Some dozen volunteers from the town’s Willing Hands will once again be offering their time and labor this year at the Whitman Brook Orchard in Quechee. The Norwich-based non-profit serves people in need of all ages throughout the Upper Valley, having developed an efficient system for food recovery and distribution.

“We arrange for regular pick-ups with over 40 food donors and deliver to at least 58 organizations every week, all year long,” said Executive Director Gabe Zoerheide. “Together we provide one small but effective solution to a very big challenge.”

Many families and individuals in the Upper Valley struggle to make ends meet. And now, with the onset of Covid-19, those facing food insecurity in the region have jumped by 33 percent, according to research by the University of Vermont and John Hopkins University.

For the last ten years, Willing Hands has been sending gleaning crews to Whitman Brook Orchard in order to collect spare apples not collected by owner Terry Dorman’s crew. “We have a great relationship with Willing Hands,” said Dorman. “Because we emphasize picking your own, the once a week gleaning of our apple drops ensures the floor is as clean as possible. What distinguishes us is that our program is weekly as opposed to the end of the season which provides Willing Hands a diversity of fruit.”

Dorman said that the apple drops are collected in three purposes: composting, processing, and first quality for fresh eating. “Willing Hands collects tons of apples each year, about 1,500 pounds in an hour and a half gleaning session each week as long as the season lasts,” said Carolyn Frye, the Gleaning Program volunteer lead. “The apples are then distributed to neighbors in need throughout the Upper Valley.”

As volunteers pick up the drops and cull out the bruised or blemished fruit, they tidy up the floor of the orchard. “Terry benefits not only from the pleasure of donating the apples to Willing Hands but also from having a well-groomed orchard,” Frye said. “The drops from the apple trees could become quite hazardous for people as they wander among the trees picking for themselves.”

This year, abiding by all Covid-19 precautions, Willing Hands volunteers will be gleaning at Dorman’s orchard beginning mid-September, usually on Thursdays, said Jim McCracken, Gleaning and Gardening Coordinator. The apples are then delivered to all of their 70+ recipient sites. “We often have had groups as large as 20 to help with picking the drops,” said McCracken. “King Arthur Flour and some school groups have also helped the volunteers.”

Last year, Willing Hands had 114 volunteers participate, some of whom were repeats. They gathered 12,051 pounds of apples. Since 2017, it has recovered 28,674 pounds of apples and has had 188 volunteers, again with many repeat gatherers, he related.

Norwich volunteer Charles Lindner has gleaned at Dorman’s orchard on several occasions. “It’s a spectacular setting with a view of Quechee and beyond,” said Lindner. “The orchards are obviously meticulously cared for and have a number of varieties of apples. It’s a pleasure to work with a crew of good-natured volunteers and gather large numbers of beautiful apples that get distributed to food shelves throughout the Upper Valley. The gleans are always well organized, friendly, and offer a hands-on opportunity to make a contribution.”

Gleaning Program Coordinator Sara Cavin agreed. “The team that Terry has is friendly and hard-working and extremely knowledgeable about all the varieties of apples they have,” said Cavin.

Frye said that the apple harvest coincides perfectly with the foliage season which is a bonus for the volunteers who come to glean. And, she “loves” introducing Dorman to the volunteers before they start gleaning.

“Terry is a treasure trove of apple lore and facts, and volunteers are fascinated by new tidbits each time he tells the story of his orchard,” Frye said. “With over 100 varieties of heirloom apples, we have a lot to learn from him.”

Nine years ago, one of the most damaging storms in Vermont’s history came roaring in, bringing the state to its knees, as some said, with more than 500 miles of state roads destroyed, 60,000 homes and businesses without power, and 200 bridges damaged or ripped off foundations.

One of those was the Norwich’s Kids Bridge over Blood Brook connecting Beaver Meadow Road and neighboring families to Huntley Meadow. Kids used the bridge to cross the brook on foot and bike to use the fields, playground, and continue on their way to school and town.

The wooden bridge, built by Eagle Scouts, was never replaced, despite an approved bridge design, necessary state and town permits, and approved site. The last remaining obstacle was expense – until now.

Thanks to private donations recently received from residents and friends of Norwich, the town has set up a special fund called the Kids Bridge at Huntley Meadow. To date, over $10,000 has been raised to replace the bridge. The estimated cost for the project with riverbank abutments and slope suitable for bike and foot approaches, in addition to the assembly and placement of the bridge, is $12,000. The total cost, however, is projected to be $20,000.

The steel prefabricated walking/biking bridge will be delivered to Huntley Meadow. The grading and footings and the installation of the bridge across Blood Brook will be done entirely by volunteers from the Trails committee, local contractors, and residents.

“We are currently past the halfway point in donations from friends of Norwich,” said Norwich resident and project overseer Don McCabe. “If friends continue to make tax deductible donations at our current pace, we hope to have the bridge in place this summer.”

McCabe’s family has lived in Norwich for 36 years. He and his wife, Lisa, built their house there, raised their children and brought them to Huntley Meadow over many years, crossing the old suspension bridge, catching crayfish under the bridge and going for an occasional swim.

“Our kids came to Huntley for sports practice, family picnics, kite flying with friends, and biking over the years,” said McCabe. “When it became clear recently that there was not enough support for taxpayer dollars to replace the bridge, the old-fashioned ‘let’s do it ourselves’ spirit took hold. I reached out to personal friends first, then to Norwich residents through the Norwich List.”

The response has been overwhelming, McCabe related, but there are still more generous friends needed to make the Kids Bridge a reality this summer. He met with Norwich town manager Herb Durfee, Recreation Council director Brie Swenson, and members of the Norwich Trails Committee in March to find out if there was collective interest and support to proceed.

“All supported the concept of private funding and volunteer person power for this community project,” said McCabe. “The town manager agreed to set up a designated fund to be used solely for the Kids Bridge. The Recreation director agreed to manage the project and secure permits from the state. Local contractors agreed to donate their time and equipment to prepare the bridge site. The Trails Committee volunteered its members to assemble and place the prefabricated bridge.”

That need for funding and the warm memories that many families have had over the years using the bridge with their children prompted McCabe to begin the fundraising project using only private donations to bring the bridge back to Huntley Meadow.

McCabe believes that when Norwich families donate to the Kids Bridge project, it underscores the commitment to ‘think globally, act locally.’ “We’re aware of what is happening in our country and the world,” said McCabe. By putting resources into rebuilding the Kids Bridge, past and future generations of Norwich residents, alike, can talk about the simple pleasures of life like “…hiking and biking across the little bridge that spans the brook.”

For Dr. Deborah Kennedy, food is not only what we eat each day, but also the key to good health. As a practitioner of nutritional medicine, Dr. Kennedy believes food has the power to transform our health for the better, and her upcoming textbook intends to expand upon that mission.

Dr. Kennedy’s life as a foodie started at the age 4 when she began learning how to cook, and led to her job as a cook and sous chef throughout high school and college. This passion for food eventually emboldened her to pursue cooking professionally and then to get her PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Tufts University.

Dr. Kennedy was almost finished with her doctorate when she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma and given only two weeks to live. Instead of giving up, she was determined to survive this diagnosis. “It became a very difficult confusing time when I was trying to research what I should eat to be healthy,” Dr. Kennedy said about her diagnosis. Twenty seven years later, she is still here to tell the story, demonstrating food’s powerful potential for healing. She didn’t want anyone else to have to go through what she did, so she resolved to help others transform their diets when facing similar health challenges.

Dr. Kennedy has written three books centered around children’s eating habits. The books tackle children’s habits at the table based on their eating personality and re-empowers parents to help their children make healthy eating choices rather than giving children the power as a picky eater. Dr. Kennedy’s latest book, Culinary Rehab: A Comprehensive Resource in Culinary Medicine, will shift the focus from children, addressing instead culinary medicine.

The e-textbook addresses nutrition after diagnosis with illness, and is meant for the healthcare professional, the wellness coach, or the home cook who wants to change the health of themselves or their friends and family. The textbook, which will tentatively arrive in July of 2020, is created in partnership with over thirty-six nutrition experts and a dozen chefs from the US, Canada, and England. The e-textbook will feature embedded video interviews with different farmers and chefs, as well as cooking demonstrations. Additionally, after completing the textbook, you are given the opportunity to take a test in order to gain certification in culinary medicine.

In partnership with Dr. Kennedy are a wide range of organizations and individuals who are nutrition experts and expert chefs working to change the food system. Notable organizations include The Bread Lab, Torriberra Mediterranean Center, Food Tank, Wholesome Wave with Michel Nischan is making food affordable for those who are food insecure, and Dr. David Katz’s organization, the True Health Initiative, will receive five percent of the proceeds from the textbook sales.

By combining expert testimony with practical advice, the textbook provides accessible answers to nutrition. Dr. Kennedy refers to it as a modular approach, or how to eat healthier step by step, instead of presenting the information at once. “By giving someone an unattainable goal then that sets them up for failure,” says Dr. Kennedy. “I think we can get people to be closer to doing that [eating healthier] by being gentler with our message.” Her modular philosophy addresses one eating habit at a time rather than trying to tackle them all at once. “If there’s one message I can give patients, it’s try and make at least one or two healthful choices a day.”

Her modular approach extends to how each individual approaches the textbook dependent on their health status. Working with chefs, Dr. Kennedy created what she calls ‘culinary competencies’ addressing common chronic illnesses and diseases.

After diagnosis, education about different aspects of food such as how to select produce, how to prepare it, and how to cook it is important to change dietary habits. The goal, Dr. Kennedy states, is “to make healthful food crave-ful and delicious. As nutritionists we need to stop telling people what they can and cannot eat and just get out there and tell people ‘Hey come try this, it’s fabulous.’” Inevitably intertwined with nutrition is the culture surrounding eating.

Dr. Kennedy said that the biggest challenge when people are changing their diet is busyness. “…the real answer lies in taking a breath before you put something in your mouth,” Dr. Kennedy said. The modular approach in the textbook attempts to answer this problem by not overwhelming the reader with many goals, but rather allowing them the space to work on one issue at a time. “There are one-hundred-twenty choices every day that Americans could do to make themselves healthier. Choose on actionable step that you know you can be successful at and when you get there, you’re ready to make another change.”