In my work as a nurse for the Springfield Area Parent Child Center, I visit families with young children in the Windham County area. Many of these families demonstrate severe financial hardships and/or health needs, and I am challenged daily to help them in any way that I can, even though the primary focus of my home visiting is the health and well-being of the newborn baby and the children.
Within the past month, I found myself contacting Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) for emergency fuel assistance for two families who, for different reasons, could not afford to pay for their heating fuel.
One family was attempting to heat with stove-top burners, and one was simply existing without heat. Both families included a baby younger than 1 year of age. SEVCA was eager to help; however, the agency's funds were depleted and a contact person referred me to the Windham County Heat Fund in Brattleboro.
I was initially reluctant to contact the Heat Fund, as I thought it would be yet another dead end or a place that would limit help to those who were in the immediate Brattleboro area. My clients were in outlying areas of Windham County.