Community
In our experience, parents-to-be and folks on the early stages of the parenting journey are often eager for information about all sorts of topics. The Good Beginnings family resource pages are designed to help parents find the information they need by providing as much as possible in one place. The resources included are not necessarily exhaustive and are for informational purposes only.
Vermont 2-1-1 is the number to dial to find out about hundreds of important community resources, like emergency food and shelter, disability services, counseling, senior services, health care, child care, and much more. 2-1-1 is your first step toward solving everyday problems or when you are facing difficult times. It’s a free service. It’s confidential. It’s 24/7.
Child Care
Childcare Financial Assistance
State of Vermont information on how to apply for financial assistance for child care, a payment that helps eligible families with the cost of child care. The Child Care Financial Assistance Program helps eligible families with the cost of child care.
Vermont Bright Futures Child Care System
This is the place for parents, early childhood and after school programs, and professionals to get answers to questions about child care and the services available to help ensure that high quality child care is available to every child in Vermont.
Vermont Head Start
What truly sets Head Start apart from other early childhood programs is that it is a program for the whole family. We help families identify their needs and build on their strengths in order to achieve their goals. Parents are recognized as their children’s first and most important teachers. Programs provide parenting education and family literacy services to support adult as well as children’s literacy skills. Parents and staff work together to help children become successful learners. We also coordinate with our partners to ensure parents and families with children enrolled in Head Start get their needs met to succeed.
Advocacy
Let’s Grow Kids
Let’s Grow Kids, a statewide public education campaign, aims to raise understanding of the importance of the earliest years in the lives of Vermont’s children. The first years are most critical for future success. Yet, too many Vermont infants and toddlers don’t have access to high-quality early learning opportunities. We must make sure every Vermont child who needs it has access to high-quality, affordable child care.
The Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance
The Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance is a statewide coalition of early childhood professionals and providers, parents, and employers working together to improve public policies that impact young children from birth to age eight on issues of health, safety, nutrition, economic security, and early care and education.
Voices for Vermont Children
Voices addresses the full spectrum of child, youth and family issues – from child care and access to health care coverage for children and youth to juvenile justice and child welfare.
Help with Basic Needs
3SquaresVT
Eat healthy with a little help from 3SquaresVT! 3SquaresVT can help you stretch your food budget so you can put three healthy meals on your table every day. Use the online application to apply for these four benefits: 3SquaresVT, Essential Person, Fuel Assistance, and Reach Up.
Alcohol & Drug Abuse
The Division of Alcohol & Drug Abuse Programs oversees a network of health promotion, prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery services. Our mission is to prevent, reduce and eliminate the problems caused by alcohol and drug use
Capstone Community Action
Capstone provides comprehensive services to help people achieve economic well-being with dignity and develops partnerships to strengthen Vermont communities. Our commitment is to alleviate the suffering caused by poverty, to work with individuals and families to move out of poverty, and to advocate for economic justice for all Vermonters.
Circle
Circle is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing services to victims of domestic violence. We offer a 24-hour hotline with 24-hour advocacy, along with assisting victims obtaining temporary orders and sitting in Family Court for their final orders. Many of our women need assistance around parent/child contact and divorce after a Relief from Abuse Order is in place.
Food Pantries
The Legal Rights of Women in Vermont handbook
The goal of The Legal Rights of Women in Vermont handbook is to help you begin to understand your rights and responsibilities under Vermont and Federal Law. Written in plain and simple language, this handbook has been a source of information for Vermont women, their families, and professionals that serve them since 1977.
WIC
WIC welcomes families at any time. Learn more about WIC benefits, how to apply, how to eat well with WIC, and which stores accept WIC. Fathers, grandparents and foster parents may apply for children who are in their care. Contact the Local Health Office serving your community and schedule an in-person WIC appointment to apply.
Diapering on a Budget
GroVia Gives
GroVia Gives is a US-based cloth diaper lending program intended to help families with temporary or long term financial struggles diaper their babies. GroVia believes that no baby should go without clean, safety-compliant diapers, and no family should have to choose between paying for food and utilities and diapering their baby. Contact Karri Crossman for more information.
Housing Assistance
Capstone Community Action
If you or your family are homeless or facing eviction, our housing counselors can help! We can help you locate, secure or maintain your housing, or assist with navigating the many other resources out there. If you are facing mortgage delinquency or foreclosure, we may also be able to assist. Capstone Community Action is a Local Housing Counseling Agency. We assist people who need help locating, securing or keeping their rental housing, and assist people who are homeless, as well.
Downstreet Housing & Community Development
Downstreet strengthens the communities of Central Vermont by engaging with people, providing affordable homes and connecting people to the resources and services they need to thrive.
The Family Supportive Housing Program (FSH)
The Family Supportive Housing Program (FSH) is a participant-engaged permanent supportive housing program for homeless families with minor children in Washington County. The program includes individualized, family-centered case management services. Each family will work one-on-one with a FSH Service Coordinator towards achieving set goals developed by the family with their ‘team’ of other service providers.
Pathways: Housing First
Housing First is an evidence-based, permanent supportive housing program that supports individuals to maintain independent housing and lead meaningful lives in their community. The program immediately ends homelessness by supporting individuals and families to locate independent apartments in the community. Housing First clients are provided long-term, multidisciplinary community supports, including service coordination, drug & alcohol counseling, employment support, psychiatry, nursing care and representative payee services.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes; utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination, and transform the way HUD does business.