With your help, we were able to secure over $42 million for Vermont communities.

Dear Fellow Vermonter,

Earlier this year, I asked you to submit ideas and proposals to my office for projects that would improve our communities and address long-neglected needs across our state.

Thanks to those submissions, which covered a wide range of issues, my office was able to secure more than $42 million in federal funding for Vermont communities through Congressionally Directed Spending. From health care and infrastructure to child care, clean energy and water, agriculture, education, and housing, these 51 projects will have a significant impact in our communities and in improving the lives of Vermonters from one end of our state to the other.

As you may know, in the last several years we have made strong progress in Vermont expanding access to primary health care. The programs I am announcing today take us a major step forward in continuing that progress with a more than $4 million investment in community health center capabilities in the Brattleboro area – a project that will help thousands of Vermonters access much-needed dental, primary, and behavioral health care. We are also today announcing health care initiatives for Orange County, Franklin County, Washington County, and Chittenden County.

One of the goals of my office has been to make quality, affordable community health center care accessible for Vermonters in every region of our state. Because of what we’ve accomplished together over the years, Vermont now has the highest per-capita use of community health centers in the country, providing quality care to more than 171,000 Vermonters – regardless of ability to pay. That’s an accomplishment we should all be proud of.

Some other project highlights include:

• Expanding affordable, shared equity homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters.
  
  
• Upgrades and renovations to the historic Barre Municipal Auditorium that will ensure families are able to visit and use the Aud for generations to come.
  
  
• Funding to establish the Vermont EMS Academy to provide high-quality and accessible training to help rebuild Vermont’s EMS workforce.
  
  
• Funding to quadruple the number of spots at the Vermont State Firefighters Association’s Cadet Academy.
  
  
• Clean drinking water and sewer infrastructure projects across the state, including in Royalton, Randolph, Barre, and Whitingham.
  
  
• A new child care center in Morrisville – for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers – to fill an urgent need for families in the region.