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From Our Director...
For the last 17 years, the Champlain Mill in Winooski was the home of Parent
to Parent of Vermont. In the beginning, a desk within the office
of the ARC, shared by a part-time Director and outreach coordinator seemed
sufficient. Record keeping was a spiral bound steno pad until Parent
to Parent learned of free computers being offered from the law offices
of Paul Frank & Collins. We wrote our first grant to the Vermont
Independence Fund on our newly acquired computers and were awarded funding
to establish Parent to Parent of Vermont as a statewide support and information
network for families with children who have special needs. Burlington
lawyer and friend Jack Bergeron assisted us in incorporating as a non-profit
organization, and called his friend Ray Pecor, owner of the Champlain Mill
to secure office space. Jack promptly donated office furniture so
that we could immediately focus on our mission. We've grown tremendously
since that time, most especially in the last five years.
The generous spirit demonstrated by so many members of the community and
experienced continuously throughout our seventeen-year history has enabled
Parent to Parent to open new doors in Williston. As of January 2002, a
stellar staff of twenty-four are now filling the rooms of our new office
space in Blair Park in Williston. Landlord Steve Kidder, Craig Bemis
of Business Interiors, Liza Kilcoyne of Kilcoyne Architects, O'Cieran and
Middlebrook, and Real Page, Inc. together donated over $50,000 toward building
costs, design, work stations, equipment, and furniture. On February 14th,
over seventy family, friends, and community members joined Parent to Parent
staff and our Board of Directors at our Open House (go to our website to
view photos from the occasion).
The increase in staff from seven in 1999 to twenty-four in 2002 is directly
correlated with a demonstrated need for our statewide programs. Our staff
continues to implement programs, support families, teach family-centered
care, champion for system and policy change, publish guidance materials
and The Heart of It Newsletter, maintain our website, coordinate
early intervention services, prepare Supporting Parents, plan conferences,
fundraise, and advance our technological capacity. Partnerships with
local organizations, as well as state and federal agencies have been the
key to sustaining our work in the state. Foundations have been responsive
in recognizing the value of our efforts and the need to reach further into
local communities to ensure that we are reaching all families who might
benefit from our programs. Our next phase of growth will happen at
the community level, and through the continuing connections that we make
with families, professionals, and community members we can identify the
issues and take additional steps toward seeking positive change.
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