MOOver resumes Medicaid transportation services
ROCKINGHAM - The MOOver has resumed providing Medicaid transportation to qualified clients in Windham County and southern Windsor County.
The MOOver's return into Medicaid follows nine months of planning and coordination with the Vermont Public Transportation Association (VPTA), the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and the two bus companies that have been serving the region since 2018, when the MOOver withdrew from the Medicaid program.
Services in Windham County have been maintained by Green Mountain Community Network. Southern Windsor County services have been maintained by Marble Valley Regional Transit District.
These rides are for non-emergency medical transportation only, such as rides to the doctor's, pharmacy, opioid treatments, adult day care, dialysis, and cancer care. Roughly 2,000 riders in Windham and southern Windsor counties qualify for Medicaid transportation through a region that is the third largest in the state, behind Chittenden County and northern Vermont.
“We will be able to combine ride requests with our other programs to hopefully make Medicaid transportation as efficient as possible,” said MOOver CEO Randy Schoonmaker.
Medicaid clients can call for service Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., toll free at 888-869-6287 or at 802-460-7433.
COVID care bags available at Brooks library
BRATTLEBORO - Brooks Memorial Library, 221 Main St., wants everyone to stay healthy with a free COVID-19 care bag, sponsored by area agencies and United Way of Windham County.
Each bag contains a digital thermometer, Badger Balm for dry skin, masks, and assorted goodies.
Bags may be picked up curbside at the library Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, contact the library at 802-254-5290, or visit brookslibraryvt.org.
Senior meal served at Evening Star Grange
DUMMERSTON - Evening Star Grange and Senior Solutions will present their Second Wednesday Senior Luncheon on Wednesday, March 10, with takeout available between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
On the menu is corned beef and cabbage, boiled potatoes, and carrots with Irish soda bread. The dessert will be pistachio breeze. A veggie alternative of cabbage and carrots not cooked in meat broth, plus a slice of vegetable cheese and spinach quiche, is available.
Reservations are necessary and can be made by calling the Grange Hall at 802-254-1138; leave your name, phone number, and the number of meals you would like. A donation of $4 ($3 for those 60 and older) is suggested.
RFPL hosts story time with the Rich Earth Institute
BELLOWS FALLS - Vermont author Kim Nace will read her picture book All People Pee to children and grownups alike on Wednesday, March 10, at 10 a.m., via Rockingham Free Public Library's Zoom account.
Described by library staff in a news release as “the perfect book to pair with Everyone Poops, by Taro Gomi, it appeals to kids who are potty training, curious about other animals. or exploring the role of humans in the natural world.
“While including fun details about the different colors of pee and peeing inside and outside, the text and illustrations also address the current-day use of urine after it leaves the human body.“
Nace is the co-founder and executive director of the Rich Earth Institute in Brattleboro, whose mission is to turn sanitized human urine into fertilizer while supporting sustainable agriculture and protecting vital water resources.
Rich Earth has collected urine from Brattleboro residents for this purpose for well over eight years and is expanding its work with a urine recycling hub in Rockingham that will open this year.
To receive an invitation to Nace's Zoom event, call 802-463-4270 or email programming@rockinghamlibrary.org.
Blood drive planned in Marlboro
MARLBORO - The Marlboro Alliance and Degrees of Freedom program are partnering with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive in the Dining Hall on the former Marlboro College campus, 2582 South Rd., from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Tuesday, March 16. Register to donate blood at bit.ly/602-marl.
For more information or for help registering, or if you have any questions, email jkohn@degreesoffreedom.org or francie.marbury@gmail.com or call the Red Cross at 800-733-2767.
West River Valley families to get 'cooking together' kits
WEST TOWNSHEND - RiseVT-Windham County, the West River Modified School District, Townshend Community Food Shelf, and Food Connects have launched the Dinner Together initiative.
Families in the West River Modified School District are now eligible to receive three cooking kits with all the ingredients for the monthly provided Dinner Together healthy recipes. The kits are available on a first-come-first-served basis with no sign-up required.
The kits will made available on the last Friday of every month, from 2 to 4 p.m., at West Townshend Country Store, 6573 VT Route 30. Upcoming distribution dates are March 26, April 30, and May 28.
Organizers say that eating as a family “develops lifelong healthy eating habits, improves children's learning and well-being. ...[T]eens are more likely to have better self-esteem and less likely to experience depression or develop an eating disorder.”
For more information, contact Elisha Underwood at eunderwood@bmhvt.org.