Hi Folks,

Hope y’all are hanging in there! This is Shawna, Executive Director of Barre
Up! I’d like to start with a little introduction in case you are new here and
then we will get right up to speed so we can start walking the path of disaster
recovery together.

Barre Up is a Long Term Recovery Group (LTRG) serving central Vermont folks
living and working in or around Barre, Vermont. Barre Up began as a group of impacted
residents, community organizers, city employees, local faith leaders and folks
from all walks of life wanting to continue the recovery work many of us started
in the days following the flooding of July, 2023. We take a resident-centered
approach to recovery, inviting you to create your own path to recovery. We’re
here to help!

How to reach us: Our Flood Recovery Hub, located in Barre’s City
Hall, at 6 N. Main Street, is open for drop-in hours on Wednesdays, 6-8pm and
Thursdays 10am-6pm. To find us from Main Street, look for the green door at the
bottom of the accessibility ramp (we’re in the old police station!). We are
also available by appointment. You can reach us by leaving a voicemail at 802-227-2635
or emailing us at info@barreup.org. We
have a Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/barreup.
And our web address is barreup.org.

Barre Up News: We are very excited to announce we have hired a
Construction Project Manager (CPM) in Prem Linskey. Prem is available to perform
site surveys and planning help for restoring our spaces damaged by flooding. Barre
Up has a partnership with ReSOURCE Vermont and their YouthBuild Team. Together,
we aim to rehab impacted housing and bring our people home. We know it ain’t
gonna be easy. But we’re confident we can get it done together.  You can begin the process by emailing info@barreup.org. Check out our Team bios
for more on Prem!

Resource Update:

Red Cross is in town and doing interviews with folks to help them
receive financial assistance. Bridge Assistance, typically initiated 3 to 6
months after a disaster, serves as ongoing support after immediate assistance
has been provided. It aims to assist households facing various barriers on
their path to recovery, such as housing, transportation, childcare, or physical
and mental health challenges. This financial assistance empowers recipients to
prioritize their recovery needs and address them directly.

The program targets individuals whose homes were identified as major damaged
or destroyed during our efforts over the summer. The program involves two key
components: contact by our call center and in-person services provided by a
ground team deployed to our region for this initiative. The ground team will be
stationed at offices where other long-term recovery organizations are providing
services in Vermont.

The consolidated schedule for in-person services is as follows:

HOPE Coalition 279 Vine St Berlin, VT 05641

·       Feb
1 (Thu) & Feb 2 (Fri) – 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

·       Feb
7 (Wed) to Feb 10 (Sat) – 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (Sat: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm)

·       Feb
14 (Wed) to Feb 17 (Sat) – 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (Sat: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm)

·       Feb
19 (Mon) & Feb 20 (Tue) – 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Unitarian Church Montpelier 130 Main St Montpelier, VT

·       Feb
5 (Mon) & Feb 6 (Tue) – 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

·       Feb
12 (Mon) & Feb 13 (Tue) – 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

If you need help with finding transportation to the interviews, please reach
out to Jackie Blowe at 202-615-6496 or by email at Jacqueline.blowe@fema.dhs.gov.
If you got a text message from the Red Cross recently concerning Bridge
Assistance, it’s legit! You can respond to it for more info.

Vermont Legal Aid is also at the Hope Coalition hub on Vine street
offering free legal education and advice concerning buyouts (279 Vine St,
Berlin). Email Jmarshall@legalservicesvt.org
to set up an appointment!