I was thinking the other day about Howard Center and wondering what our community would look like without them. Let us go back 160 years to 1865 when “The Home for Destitute Children” was founded to support widows and orphans left destitute from the Civil War. From the very beginning this organization was predicated to serving those in need. A noble cause that has sustained for generations the mission of helping those in need. Today Howard Center supports people and communities by providing the vast services needed for those with mental health, substance use disorder, and developmental needs. So, what would we lose without Howard Center?
- Each year 19,000 members of our community would lose important life-sustaining services.
- 1,300 citizens would not have employment.
- 25 residential homes that help people live independently with mental health and developmental needs would be gone.
- The substance use treatment services would cease to exist, and thousands would suffer without the help to heal and recover from addiction.
- The clinicians who are in every public school in Chittenden County would not be there to help our children.
- Vermonters who are served by Howard Center in our schools, childcare centers, hospitals, emergency rooms, private homes, would lose services thereby leaving a massive hole of unmet needs and services.
- The three independent therapeutic schools: Baird School, Jean Garvin School, and Fay Honey Knopp would close.
Here is another Howard Center program that would end and one that I am personally excited about and one that gives me immense joy. I was just appointed to the Howard Center Arts Collective to serve on their Advisory Council. For artists who struggle with mental health, substance use issues or are neuro and/or physically diverse, these folks now have a way of expressing themselves and being “seen” through their creative imaginations and artistic talents. What a healing and empowering program where artists gather to exchange their thoughts, share their art, and plan future events and socialize. Their art is then exhibited at some of our most prized galleries – Flynn Dog, Amy Tarrant Gallery at the Flynn, Main Street Landing, The Fleming Museum at UVM to name just a few exhibition halls. Imagine this program coming to a halt.
And finally – these initiatives would end – Street Outreach, SUCCEED, Safety Connection, Medications for Opioid Use Disorder, First Call for Chittenden County, and Safe Recovery. And let it be known that there are so many other services not even mentioned here that would just go away.
Quite frankly, imagining our world without Howard Center is like imagining the collapse of our humanity. I was stunned to feel the deep sadness in this moment of quiet reflection and the joy in knowing it was just my imagination.
In closing – I ask that for just one moment you close your eyes, and rest your head, and in the silence of your own mind imagine what our community would look like without Howard Center. Then get up, shake out the blues, rejoice and celebrate with a much more enlightened and calming reality that the Howard Center is alive and well and rocking their social services agenda. This 160-year-old organization predicated on providing love, support, and opportunities back during the Civil War still operates as a place of non-judgmental healing. Howard Center breeds hope, opportunity, self-worth, and builds new paths for those who need guiding light along their way. Thank you, Howard Center, for all that you do and will do over the next many years. You are a strong enduring pillar of caring not just for our community but also for our entire earthly human hope.
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Melinda Moulton: Imagine Life Without Howard Center
I was thinking the other day about Howard Center and wondering what our community would look like without them. Let us go back 160 years to 1865 when “The Home for Destitute Children” was founded to support widows and orphans left destitute from the Civil War. From the very beginning this organization was predicated to serving those in need. A noble cause that has sustained for generations the mission of helping those in need. Today Howard Center supports people and communities by providing the vast services needed for those with mental health, substance use disorder, and developmental needs. So, what would we lose without Howard Center?
Here is another Howard Center program that would end and one that I am personally excited about and one that gives me immense joy. I was just appointed to the Howard Center Arts Collective to serve on their Advisory Council. For artists who struggle with mental health, substance use issues or are neuro and/or physically diverse, these folks now have a way of expressing themselves and being “seen” through their creative imaginations and artistic talents. What a healing and empowering program where artists gather to exchange their thoughts, share their art, and plan future events and socialize. Their art is then exhibited at some of our most prized galleries – Flynn Dog, Amy Tarrant Gallery at the Flynn, Main Street Landing, The Fleming Museum at UVM to name just a few exhibition halls. Imagine this program coming to a halt.
And finally – these initiatives would end – Street Outreach, SUCCEED, Safety Connection, Medications for Opioid Use Disorder, First Call for Chittenden County, and Safe Recovery. And let it be known that there are so many other services not even mentioned here that would just go away.
Quite frankly, imagining our world without Howard Center is like imagining the collapse of our humanity. I was stunned to feel the deep sadness in this moment of quiet reflection and the joy in knowing it was just my imagination.
In closing – I ask that for just one moment you close your eyes, and rest your head, and in the silence of your own mind imagine what our community would look like without Howard Center. Then get up, shake out the blues, rejoice and celebrate with a much more enlightened and calming reality that the Howard Center is alive and well and rocking their social services agenda. This 160-year-old organization predicated on providing love, support, and opportunities back during the Civil War still operates as a place of non-judgmental healing. Howard Center breeds hope, opportunity, self-worth, and builds new paths for those who need guiding light along their way. Thank you, Howard Center, for all that you do and will do over the next many years. You are a strong enduring pillar of caring not just for our community but also for our entire earthly human hope.