World 11-25-20

How Can
We Ever Say
“Thanks” Enough?
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We wish you and yours a
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page 2 The WORLD November 25, 2020
Our Office
will be closed
Thursday, Nov. 26
and re-open
Friday, Nov. 27
at 8:30 AM
An exceptional team just got even better.
We are pleased to welcome Hans Asoera
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VSECU, Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston
Award $100,000 in Grants to Vermont Nonprofits
VSECU is distributing $100,000 in grants
to seven Vermont nonprofits significantly
impacted by COVID-19. Ranging from
$5,000 to $25,000, the grants will help preserve
and create job opportunities, support
local economic development, and further
important community services.
The grants are funded by Federal Home
Loan Bank of Boston’s Jobs for New England
Recovery Grant program. The program was
specifically created in 2020 to provide member
financial institutions with grants to support
local small businesses and nonprofit
organizations experiencing significant losses
because of the pandemic.
“VSECU is always looking for ways to
support our members, create an inclusive
economy, and help our local communities
prosper,” said Gregory Huysman, VSECU’s
director of business lending and services.
“We are grateful to FHLBank Boston for
being such a great community partner and
helping us increase our impact on Vermonters’
quality of life. We look forward to our continued
partnership through FHLBank Boston
programs.”
“We are pleased that VSECU was able to
successfully access grant funding through the
Jobs for New England Recovery Grant
Program to support and provide some financial
relief to organizations that are contributing
to the overall health and well-being of
Vermont residents,” said Kenneth Willis,
senior vice president, director of housing and
community investment at FHLBank Boston.
“Too many local businesses and nonprofit
organizations have experienced severe hardship
because of the pandemic, so we are
proud that we have been able to offer some
assistance.”
Grant recipients include the Vermont
Performing Arts League, Central Vermont
Humane Society, Vermont Council on Rural
Development (VCRD), The Center for Arts
and Learning, Vermont Employee Ownership
Center (VEOC), Washington County Youth
Service, and Catamount Film and Arts.
“An organization like ours is based on the
principle of people coming together as a
group to learn, experience and interact with
others in the ways they choose. We suddenly
had to reinvent the ways we do everything to
continue our mission safely through this pandemic,”
said April Werner, executive director
of the Vermont Performing Arts League. “It
caused significant financial strain on us and
finding out that VSECU was aware of our
struggles—and wanted to help!—was an
unanticipated and heartwarming surprise.”
“We are so grateful to receive this generous
grant,” said Laurie Garrison, executive director
of the Central Vermont Humane Society.
“We take in and care for over 1,000 pets a
year, and this grant will significantly increase
our capacity to help animals and people at a
time when it is urgently needed.”
“We deeply appreciate the support of the
Vermont Judiciary Delays the Resumption of Criminal
Jury Trials Due to Spike in COVID-19 Cases in
Vermont and Across the Country
• • •
Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, and
VSECU, for our work in COVID recovery,
building community leadership and advancing
economic development that contributes to
climate solutions,” said Paul Costello, executive
director at VCRD. “Vermonters are
standing up to lead local recovery efforts
today, and their work and leadership can be a
springboard to economic renewal and a resilient
future.”
“During the pandemic, we have seen one of
our founding partners, River Rock School,
close its doors for good,” said Alice Dodge,
executive director for The Center for Arts and
Learning. “This grant will make a tremendous
difference helping us make up for the
impact of that long-term loss to our community
and our income, as we find new partners
and develop new programs that will use their
space. It means we can keep offering studios
to local artists and musicians, and it will help
us find the best and safest ways to support our
creative community through this difficult
time.”
“Every day vulnerable youth turn to us for
help with crises and challenges in their lives,”
said Kreig Pinkham, executive director for
the Washington County Youth Service
Bureau. “This important grant will help
ensure that we are here when they need us
with counseling, emergency shelter, housing
supports, substance use treatment, support as
they transition out of foster care, and more.”
“This FHLBank Boston grant funding will
provide critical capital needed to adapt our
facility, which is currently closed to the public,
to the new COVID-19 reality,” said Jody
Fried, executive director of Catamount Film
and Arts, which supports over 3,000 artists
and creatives throughout the Northeast
Kingdom.
About VSECU
VSECU is a member-owned cooperative
and not for profit credit union for everybody
who lives or works in Vermont, offering a full
range of affordable financial products and
services to its member-owners. VSECU is
committed to improving the lives of
Vermonters by empowering possibilities for
greater social, environmental, and financial
prosperity. For more information about
VSECU, call 802/800 371-5162 or visit www.
vsecu.com.
About FHLBank Boston
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston is
a cooperatively owned wholesale bank for
housing finance in the six New England
states. Its mission is to provide highly reliable
wholesale funding and liquidity to its member
financial institutions in New England. The
Bank also develops and delivers competitively
priced financial products, services, and
expertise that support housing finance, community
development, and economic growth,
including programs targeted to lower-income
households.
The Vermont Chief Superior Judge and the
Vermont State Court Administrator announced
a delay in the restart of criminal jury trials
scheduled to begin in the Windham unit of the
Vermont Superior Court in Brattleboro on
December 7. The delay is in response to a
recent significant increase in COVID-19
cases in Vermont, which is expected to continue
in the coming days and weeks. Chief
Superior Judge Brian Grearson and Vermont
State Court Administrator Patricia Gabel,
Esq. made the decision to postpone the restart
in consultation with Judge John Treadwell,
who would have presided over the trial.
“We are disappointed to delay this critical
component of our democracy—the right to a
trial by a jury of one’s peers—however, the
safety and wellbeing of all is critical; that is
why we have determined that now is not the
time to restart this work,” said the Honorable
Karen R. Carroll, Associate Justice of the
Vermont Supreme Court and co-chair of a
committee formed to restart jury trials safely
during the pandemic.
The Supreme Court directed the State
Court Administrator and Chief Superior
Judge to develop an implementation plan
based on the recommendations informed by
the Jury Restart Committee, which included
judicial officers, a court manager, a state’s
attorney, a public defender and a civil practitioner.
That work has been ongoing for
months to be sure the courts can operate inperson
as safely and efficiently as possible.
The state recently engaged Erin Bromage,
PhD, an infectious disease specialist and professor
at University of Massachusetts
Dartmouth, to conduct an assessment and
suggest best practices for both Vermont’s
physical court facilities and its planned procedures.
Bromage said the Windham County
Court was on track with modifications necessary
for a safe restart.
“For important court proceedings, we can
go forward with changes to our workflow and
some changes to the infrastructure; most of
those things can be done fairly simply,” he
related.
While the court has made many such
changes and was poised to draw a jury for its
first trial, recent COVID-19 case numbers
caused judicial leaders to postpone until the
courts can more confidently ensure the safety
of jurors, trial participants, and court staff.
“It is critical that all of us work together to
reduce our contact with others and slow the
spread of the virus. We’ve done it before, and
we can do it again. When this latest wave is
behind us, the Judiciary will again look to
restart in-person jury trials safely,” Justice
Carroll concluded.
Detail regarding the steps the Judiciary is
taking to promote safe operations during the
pandemic is available on the COVID-19 page
of the Judiciary’s website at www.vermontjudiciary.org/COVID19.
Information about
being called for jury duty, serving as a juror,
requesting a deferral from jury service for
medical or other reasons, and about court
operations and plans is available on these
pages. This information will be updated as
conditions warrant.