The Northwest Regional Planning Commission is hiring for a new position of Water Resources Senior Planner. The senior planner will help to develop new water quality programs in the Missisquoi and Lamoille basins and will implement water resources projects in coordination with municipalities, partner groups and regional and state organizations. The ideal candidate has 5+ years of experience, knowledge of water resources or natural resources, and program management experience. Skills in coalition building, grant management, project management, and meeting facilitation are necessary. Experience working in a rural setting and knowledge of Vermont’s Clean Water Service Provider model are helpful. More information is available at www.nrpcvt.com. Please send resume and three references by June 4th to Catherine Dimitruk, Executive Director, Northwest Regional Planning Commission, 75 Fairfield Street, St. Albans, VT, 05478, or email cdimitruk@nrpcvt.com. This position will remain open until filled.

The candidate will address poverty through a diversity of projects including: collecting data on regional substance misuse, and exploring sustainable grant opportunities related to substance misuse and public health; implementing the Northwest Regional Plan by managing a data software that assesses the impact of the plan on poverty alleviation; supporting staff to write municipal plans; providing outreach and assistance in communications for NRPC projects; and participating in Hunger Council meetings and events. Bachelor’s degree is not required- open to all applicants interested in a service position. In return for a year of service, each VISTA member receives a modest living allowance, health benefits, training opportunities, student loan forbearance or deferment, and on-going professional development. After a successful year of service, each VISTA receives a Segal Education Award or a stipend. For additional information https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?fromSearch=true&id=65812

The Northwest Regional Planning Commission will be hosting a variety of workshops in the upcoming weeks. See below for details. To register please email mvalenta@nrpcvt.com with the workshop you wish to attend.

Thursday, June 3^rd, 2021

To Register Please Email mvalenta@nrpcvt.com

Essentials of Land Use Planning and Development 

June 29^th, 2021

To Register Please Email mvalenta@nrpcvt.com

Please join NRPC for training on the essentials of land use planning and regulation in Vermont. This training will focus on the basics: municipal plans, board roles and responsibilities, and meeting/hearing procedures. Whether newly appointed or seasoned and in need of a refresher, town staff and local board members are encouraged to attend.

St. Albans - On Thursday, April 29, Vermont Everyone Eats, an innovative COVID-19 response program, is celebrating one million restaurant meals served to Vermonters experiencing food insecurity. The program was launched in August 2020 with an allocation of $5 million of the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund contracted by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development to Southeastern Vermont Community Action Agency. The program would have expired in December, but widespread community support and advocacy empowered program and state partners to secure additional funding through FEMA and the program has been extended through the state of emergency.

Catherine Dimitruk, Executive Director of the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, sees the lasting impact the program will have on the region, “The Everyone Eats program allowed Franklin and Grand Isle Counties to rethink what addressing hunger looks like. It was a community effort that required support and investment from the eaters, the makers, and the growers. Everyone’s role was equally important to ensure we kept the community connected, strong, and vital in a very difficult time.”

Vermont Everyone Eats program design draws on many of Vermont’s strengths. It puts Vermont’s independent restaurants and robust local food system at the center of feeding their communities. Over 200 Vermont restaurants have contributed to the one million meals, which have contained nearly $1 million of Vermont ingredients.

Tessa Hill, co-owner of The Drake in St. Albans, has experienced first-hand what role VEE has played in the community, “Everybody Eats is one of the few silver linings to come out of the pandemic; it supports local farmers, restaurants, and citizens by bringing them together. It is providing financial stability to our restaurant; an oasis in unstable times. The best part about Everybody Eats is the way that it empowers our business to follow our mission and reach new members of our community.”

The program was created and has developed through powerful, cross-sector, public-private partnerships. 14 community “hubs” execute the programming on the ground in all 14 Vermont counties. These hubs represent hundreds of community organizations that are working together to contract meals from participating restaurants, manage delivery logistics, promote the program, and ensure the meals are delivered safely to meal recipients. Jean Hamilton, Vermont Everyone Eats Statewide Coordinator acknowledges the important role of the community hubs, “Vermont is well-known for its community organizations and thank goodness for them. In less than 9 months, our program was launched from a concept to this moment, 1 million local meals delivered to neighbors all across our state. We were able to do this because of the community organizations that stepped up and got right to work. They are the backbone of our community resilience.”

Hamilton sees this moment to celebrate the collective action of the program: “It is the people behind VEE that we are really celebrating today. Starting with the individuals who were courageous enough to step forward and ask for help, the meal recipients and the restauranteurs, to the farmers and food producers, the lawmakers and agency staff, the members of our statewide taskforce, and especially the hub organizers and volunteers – Vermont Everyone Eats is a model of how our communities can rise up together holding our shared vulnerability as an inspiration for progress. Who is your Everyone Eats hero? Please join us in celebrating them today.”

For more information about Healthy Roots Collaborative’s participation in Vermont Everyone Eats visit https://shiftmeals.org/everyone-eats/.

For more statewide information about Vermont Everyone Eats visit www.vteveryoneeats.org

One volunteer, Helen Short was nominated for the National MRC awards for the category of Community Response (COVID-19 Mission Specific: Call Center Operations) for her valuable support to the MRC organization. While she was not chosen for the recognition award, She did receive honorable mention for the category.