Another NeighborWorks Week...
NeighborWorks Week '08 packed full of activities! A few highlights of the week include building birdhouses with USDA Rural Development and five first time homeowners in Springfield. NWWVT cosponsored Bridges Out of Poverty, a two-day seminar held at the Grace Congregational Church in Rutland. An open house was held at Cottage Lane, an affordable housing development in Middlebury which is part of Middlebury South Village. The grand finale was a ground breaking at October Hill, an affordable housing neighborhood in Tinmouth. We held a Pick-Up-Sticks work party leading up to the groundbreaking. Then we all went to the Tinmouth Community Center for a BBQ, Ben & Jerry's, and an awards ceremony.
The Silver Hammer Award is given to a exceptional Rehab client. This year the award was presented to Randy and Mary Jenkins, who rehabed a foreclosed home that some thought would be better off demolished. Randy did the majority of the work himself and embodied NWWVT's founding principles.
The Volunteer of the Year Award was given to Sue and Bob Lloyd. They are very active members of their community and the Tinmouth Land Trust. They were essential in the October Hill project.
A Generosity Award was given to Chip Wright of Tinmouth. Mr. Wright donated ten acers of land to create affordable housing in Tinmouth.
As are celebration came to a close we took some time to reflect on how we got were we are today. NWWVT would not have been able to break ground at October Hill if it were not for the Tin mouth Land Trust, especially Sue and Bob Lloyd, and Marshall Squire. We also want to give a big Thank You to Chip Wright who so generously donated the land for October Hill. Not only did Mr. Wright donate land, he was one of the hardest workers at the Pick-Up-Sticks work party-not a small feat considering the heat and humidity that day, and he stayed at the Community Center until the very end to help clean up. Thank you Chip!
NeighborWorks Week is a nation wide
week-long
celebration of homeownership
For more Information on National NeighborWorks Week click here! |
