World 072821

SASH® Celebrates Stimson & Graves
Apartments’ 10 Years of Success In Creating a
Healthier Waterbury
Stimson & Graves Apartments, operated by Downstreet
Housing & Community Development (Downstreet) – an affordable
housing non-profit organization in Barre, has
been recognized by the statewide upport and ervices at
Home (SASH) program for its 10 years of successful implementation
of the SASH program to its residents and surrounding
community members hats years of helping to keep
aterburys older adults and people with disabilities healthy
and living well in their independent-living apartments and
homes.
ownstreets program covers aterbury and aitsfield
and currently serves participants ages to ,
plus other residents and senior center participants from the
Waterbury Area Senior Center and the Mad River Seniors.
Participants receive personal wellness assessments, one-onone
assistance and health coaching from a full-time SASH
Coordinator (Kenneth Russell) and a part-time SASH Wellness
urse ate nderson, hey strive to develop individual
relationships with each person enrolled to support their
health and well-being, and to coordinate wellness programming
based on their needs and desires taff work closely and
in tandem with the regional Partners eam meeting
monthly with staff from entral ermont ouncil on ging,
entral ermont ome ealth ospice,
ommunity ealth eam and ashington ountry ental
ealth ervices t couldnt be done without their partnership
he residents at timson Graves partments and airground
Apartments here in Waterbury enjoy better health and
higher quality of life with the SASH program being offered
here. Having two familiar SASH staff guides and the expertise
of the regional Partners team is what makes it happen,”
says coordinator enneth ussell ts been lifechanging
for many residents, especially those with chronic
medical and mental health conditions.”
ne particular issue this past year was the - virus
pandemic. Given the age and vulnerabilities of the residents
served, this pandemic posed a major threat to their health and
to their lives. Additionally, the requirements to “stay safe”, to
“stay home” and to “get vaccinated” had to happen while all
the typical services they usually access were shut down or operating
remotely his was a profound hit to their support systems,
social wellbeing and mental health. SASH staff doubled
down on staying connected with phone calls, group socials
by phone, food support and monthly newsletters. Despite the
challenges, almost none of the residents and participants got
infected with and none were hospitalized or died from
it. Each was given one-on-one assistance to get vaccinated at
the earliest possible time resulting in a vaccination rate
early in the vaccination rollout.
• • •
Vermont PBS and VPR Have
fficiall erged
ermont PB and ermont Public adio have merged to
become a unified public media organization dedicated to community
service he ermont PB and P boards of directors
first announced their intention to merge last eptember
ogether, we can reach out to new audiences, so we live
up to our vision of being a place for everyone,” said CEO
cott inn his merger allows us to epand our offerings
while continuing the services our existing supporters depend
on every day.”
inn will lead the new, integrated organization alongside
teve erreira icole unas avlin chairs the new board
of directors, and Marguerite Dibble serves as vice chair.
his past year has really demonstrated how much the community
relies on us to share the arts, news, education, culture,
local storytelling, and create connections,” said unas avlin
ts never been more important to strengthen public media”
“Service, inclusion, and engagement will be at the heart of
everything we do,” added Dibble.
A new leadership team, composed of executives from both
of the legacy organizations, has been named, and the staff has
been reorganized into teams with a focus on service, inclusion
and community engagement. No staff positions were eliminated
as a result of this merger.
he former headuarters of each organization, located in
inooski and olchester, will be retained, with integrated
teams staffing both locations
iewers of ermont PB and listeners to P will continue
to enjoy their favorite programs, and over time, programming
and services will expand as a result of this change.
ell still offer our audience all the programs they know
and love, and those offerings will grow ell be doing a lot
of listening and learning, to understand the needs of the community,
as we make plans for the future,” said inn
he organization will launch its new name, mission, vision
and brand identity in early 2022.
ntil the new brand for the combined organization is
launched in early 2022, the two stations will retain their existing
names and brand identities.
About VPR
ermont Public adio P is ermonts only statewide
public radio network listener-supported, nonprofit organization
since , P provides an essential and trusted
independent voice for news, information, music and cultural
eploration t operates a -station radio network serving all
of ermont, parts of surrounding states and uebec, anada
eaching more than , listeners each week, P and
its two programming servicesP ews and P lassical—produce
programming for radio, digital and live audiences.
A complete list of stations, programs and services can
be found at Porg ollow P on witter, acebook, and
Instagram.
Another example of the effectiveness of the SASH program
relates to the challenge of having high blood pressure and diabetes.
Statewide, participants in the SASH hypertension-management
program have lowered their systolic blood pressure
(the upper number in a blood pressure reading) by an average
of points, and of those in the diabetes-management
program now have c blood sugar level below the
healthy” threshold hese kind of results reduce the need for
costly medical interventions, save health care dollars and keep
their lives from being interrupted by medical events.
n addition to programs like these, provides social
activities, educational programming and fitness classes tailored
to the group ll of these things keep participants active
and engaged and they provide opportunities to diminish
loneliness and isolation which is all too common among older
adults,” ussell says e aspire to help keep them PP,
”
on Bicknell is a current resident of timson Graves
Apartments and a participant in the SASH Program since
e moved in after being ooded out of his apartment
in s rene storm hortly after moving in there, he got
familiar with the SASH staff and joined. “I hated going to the
doctor hadnt been to one in years But the urse
helped me get comfortable enough to go see r Burgoyne and
r Butch who have helped me with my blood pressure and
colon cancer hen was young, they told me that wouldnt
live beyond my teens and here am at ”
aving the program office based within the apartment
building is what makes it work effectively,” says ussell
ere able to develop trusting relationships with residents
and really get to know them and their home situation
well so that we can recognize when something is wrong early
on and step in to offer any help they may need. We also build
fun into everything we do, because we want people to see that
older age can be an awesome age.”
About Downstreet
Barre-based ownstreet ousing ommunity evelopment
downstreetorg is a non-profit organization that
strengthens the communities of entral ermont by engaging
with people, providing affordable homes, and connecting
people to the resources and services they need to thrive. Since
, ownstreet has enriched neighborhoods in ashington,
Orange, and Lamoille Counties through real estate development,
a variety of home-ownership programs, Support &
ervices at ome for older and disabled ermonters,
and a rental portfolio that provides safe, healthy mixedincome
rentals to over apartment and mobile home park
households.
Barre Art Splash - Artist Of The Week
Cindy Griffith with Posy
Being born and raised in Waterbury Center, Vermont contributed to becoming
an artist of nature. My art training began early at the hands (and
brush) of my father, Artist Leon Griffi th. Though he died when I was only
17, he imparted in me respect and appreciation for nature and my initial
interest in art.
Graduating magna cum laude in college, I minored in art and continued
taking art classes in many other venues. Though my professional life was diverted
to a career in public service, I eventually made art my second career.
My art career consists of non-stop exhibiting and networking. In addition,
I’ve been juried into many art exhibits such as Southern Vermont Art Center,
The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA, Art in the Round Barn, Waitsfi eld,
VT, various shows at the Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville, VT, Studio
Place Arts, Barre, VT, Vermont Governor’s Offi ce, Chaffee Art Center in Rutland,
VT, Gruppe Gallery, Jericho, VT, Arabella’s Gallery, Windsor, VT and
T.W. Wood Gallery, Montpelier. Other achievements include being juried into
the University of Vermont Medical Center Annual Artist Calendar in 2013
and for 2016 as well as being selected to be an Artist in Residence for the
Appalachian Mountain Club, Highland Center, Crawford Notch, NH.
In addition, I am a past President of the Vermont Pastel Society, past
Board member of the T. W. Wood Art Gallery and Museum, ongoing juried
member of the Pastel Society of America, a member of the Vermont Pastel
Society, Art Resource Association, Studio Place Arts, T.W. Wood Gallery
and Bryan Memorial Gallery.
Painting in pastel, oil and acrylic, my art has been described as magical
realism. Oil painting was the fi rst medium I fell in love with as a child, enjoying
the sensation of oils gliding over a smooth surface with a fi ne brush. A
few years ago, I fell in love with the physical intimacy of pastel as well as the
vibrancy of the colors. Click here to see the artist video.
580 West Hill Road, North Middlesex, VT 05682
www.cindygriffi thart.com cindy.griffi th.vt@gmail.com
BARRE ART SPLASH
Displayed on Main St., Barre
Now through September 7
A very special “Thank You” to all our sponsors! The Barre Rotary Club could never
do this project without you. We cannot express how grateful we are to you!
Barre Art Splash Auction & Gala
Sat., Sept. 18, 2021 • 3PM – 6 PM Viewing, 3 PM – Auction, 4 PM
Vermont Granite Museum of Barre. For more information www.barrevtrotary.org
July 28, 2021 The WORLD page 5