Page 48 - 2020 Annual Report

Northeast Kingdom Learning Services
Northeast Kingdom Learning Services, Inc. (NEKLS) has served the
residents of Orleans, Essex, and Caledonia counties since the late 1960s.
Beginning in one location in Newport, NEKLS has evolved to providing
our FREE services in five Community Learning Centers and with various
off-site and in-home educational programs. The residents of these counties
that have accessed NEKLS services have worked towards earning a high
school diploma or GED, gained job skills, prepared for college courses,
received family and child support services such as Early Intervention, and
much more.
Throughout the COVID 19 Pandemic, NEKLS, INC has not skipped
a beat. Ensuring the safety of both our staff and consumers, we have
continued to offer needed services and even adjusted and expanded what
we offer in order to meet the community needs. From Children’s Integrated
Services working with families and local food and supply drives, to our
Administrative offices hosting a local social media campaign to bring
community members together at the start of the pandemic, we have
continued to creatively collaborate and connect with those in the Northeast
Kingdom in Vermont.
State and federal budget challenges coninue to impact funding of
community nonprofits such as NEKLS. Town appropriations are vital
in keeping services free for the hundreds of community members we
work with each year, helping to make their goals a reality. Funding
helps to maintain high quality services as they are and to introduce new
instructional options as well. NEKLS is requesting a town appropriation
of $200.00 to help support programs that are accessible to the residents of
Brighton.
In 2020, NEKLS continued its new offering at Ready, Set, Grow Childcare
located in the old Teddy Bear Factory on Farrant Street in Newport. The
childcare opened in September of 2019 with the capacity to serve up
to 98 children from infancy to age 12 all while maintaining COVID 19
protocols and making an extra effort to support essential workers. We have
also debuted Step Up to Childcare, a FREE training program for those
interested in becoming home providers or working in a childcare center.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michelle Faust
Executive Director
48 Town of Brighton, VT
Umbrella
Since 1976, Umbrella has ensured that communities in Caledonia, Orleans and Essex counties have access
to services that cultivate a Northeast Kingdom where all people thrive free from abuse and oppression.
Umbrella operates 4 multi-faceted, client-centered programs and plays a crncial role in decreasing the
incidence and impact of domestic and sexual violence. Services offered include:
Social Change
Social Change focuses on a variety of initiatives in schools and in the community that aim towards
preventing gender-ha ed violence, substance misuse and tobacco use while creating a community where
abuse and oppression are acknowledged and addressed. In FY20: 1717 Youth were served through 73
sessions, 258 adults were trained in 24 workshops. Umbrella also has 15 school partners throughout the
Northeast Kingdom.
Advocacy
The Advocacy Program serves survivors and children of survivors who have experienced domestic and
sexual violence, stalking, teen dating violence, human trafficking as well as violence related to gender
or sexual orientation. In FY20: 519 people served; 60 households including 41 children (101 people
housed in emergency shelter). New to our advocacy program this year, Umbrella added 12 new beds for
emergency shelter for families fleeing domestic violence. Also new this year, 6 household including 8
children (14 people) were housed in transitional housing. $64,974 was given out to support clients, which
includes help with security deposits, food, personal belongings, moving expense , transportation, and rent.
Family- Based Services
Family Based Services focuses on connecting families to child-care and strengthening family relationship
. Kingdom Child Care Connection assists families in Caledonia and southern Essex counties to receive
subsidized childcare, appropriate child care referrals and specialized childcare placement support. The
Family Room offers supervised visitation for families throughout the Northeast Kingdom. Families are
connected to needed support including child care through our Kingdom Childcare Connection. In FY20
560 households received Umbrella support to access child care, 120 families connected to children’s
integrated services and there were 60 new referrals to child care. Children participate in supervised
visitation with support of the Family Room. FY20 saw 93 children served with supervised visitation.
Economic Empowerment
Economic Empowerment supports women with significant barriers co employment to work on their
challenges with wrap-around, no-judgment support. Participants gain experience through culinary service
and transition to employment on the pathway to meet their financial goals.
Women package and prepare food for homebound seniors via Cornucopia’s Meals on Wheels program
and food service at the Ready, Set, Grow Center in Newport. In FY20 the Cornucopia program had 8
graduates, of which 100% gained employment po t-graduation. 12 former graduates received follow-up
support. Cornucopia produced 37,276 meals (717 weekly average). We have 5 clients in the extended
Cornucopia program and 2 new jobs were created.
Women and youth expand marketable skills while earning money towards our mission through our social
enterprise, Dolcetti Gelato. $3,000 earned with 8 pop up events in the summer of 2019.
Given that some services are provided anonymously, it is difficult to provide each town with a precise
number of people served by Umbrella. However, at least 4 households in Brighton were served by
Umbrella in FY20 and the community as a whole benefited from prevention and outreach programs in
schools, as well as training and consultation for human service and law enforcement professionals.
Community support is critical to sustain our programming and to discover innovative approaches to the
work Umbrella does. We are deeply grateful for Brighton’s support.
Respectfully,
Amanda Cochrane Executive Director
2020 Annual Report 49