COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Team Forms
- Details
The WRC has been involved with the formation of a multi-sector team focused on the response and recovery needs of residents in the Windham Region. This team, called the Windham Region COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Committee (CCRRC), is led by Sue Graff with the local Vermont Agency of Human Services district, and meets regularly to share updates, identify gaps and needs, and allocate resources appropriately. It functions as an ad hoc committee of the Southern Windham Community Organizations Active in Disaster (SWCOAD).
The geographic area covered by the CCRRC is the 27 towns in the Windham Region, as defined by the Windham Regional Commission: Athens, Brattleboro, Brookline, Dover, Dummerston, Grafton, Guilford, Halifax, Jamaica, Londonderry, Marlboro, Newfane, Putney, Readsboro, Rockingham, Searsburg, Somerset, Stratton, Townshend, Vernon, Wardsboro, Westminster, Weston, Whitingham, Wilmington, Windham, Winhall.
The CCRRC allocates resources and makes decisions for the region’s response and recovery efforts through an established Steering Committee, comprised of representatives from each critical sector/workgroup (those currently representing these sectors is identified):
- SWCOAD Chair - Elizabeth McEwan
- Emergency Housing/Shelter - Rhianna Kendrick, Groundworks Collaborative
- Health - Laura Overton, VT Department of Health
- Communications - Peter Case
- Volunteer Management - Ruben Garza, United Way of Windham County
- Food Access/Hunger Council of the Windham Region - Margaret Atkinson, Co-chair of Hunger Council
- Individual Assistance - Pat Burke, SEVCA
- Business Assistance (For Profit & Nonprofit) – Jen Stromsten, Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation
- Town Emergency Planning - Chris Campany, Windham Regional Commission
- Child Care - Chloe Learey, Winston Prouty
- State Government - Sue Graff, Agency of Human Services
- Legislature - Emilie Kornheiser
The CCRRC has the following workgroups (with membership comprised of any partners with a role to play and/or existing coalitions) and the Steering Committee may establish additional workgroups, as needed:
- Emergency Housing/Shelter
- Health
- Volunteer Management
- Food Access/Hunger Council of the Windham Region
- Individual Assistance
- Business Assistance
- Town Emergency Planning
General membership in the CCRRC is open to any organization/individual who has a role to play in the COVID-19 response or recovery efforts in the defined geographic region. The full CCRRC will meet bi-weekly, as needed, to share updates/resource gaps from each committee and/or other partners. The Steering Committee will meet weekly, as needed. The agendas for both meetings will be established by and the meetings facilitated by a member of the Steering Committee.
