On May 17, the Co-op Council held its annual Dinner and Discussion event at the Montpelier Senior Activity Center. Over 80 people attended, enjoying good food and lively conversation. The theme was community resiliency, and the table level discussions that happened after the presenters spoke were quite generative. Some suggestions given are things the Co-op could take on, some present opportunities for partnerships with other organizations, and some are beyond our reach. All the written suggestions are transcribed below, and there were some clear themes.

One thing that came up repeatedly is the Co-op’s role in creating community. There are a number of ways we do this, some of which were let go during the pandemic. We can take inspiration from this and focus on re-launching programs such as a community-based member work program, increasing our educational efforts, including workshops and activities, showing up to and putting on our own community events.

Supporting marginalized people and making the Co-op more economically accessible were also strong themes. We are planning to bring more emphasis to this by highlighting our Co-op Basics program, doing more outreach for our Co-op Cares program, and tabling at community events.

Using the Co-op’s resources to support resiliency is another way we can contribute. We could offer guidance to newer organizations who need administrative support, tap into our membership base to activate response to emergencies, offer grants to resiliency projects, and act as a conduit for donations as we did last summer. There are certainly other ways the Co-op could serve as a connector and supporter, and being active and present in our community will alert us to needs and opportunities as they arise.

In reviewing the exit surveys from the event, people clearly enjoyed coming together in person to talk about a meaningful topic. There was a clear call for more of this type of event. It was also noted that we struggle to bring in younger folks, and suggestions for
appealing more to a younger demographic were made. Suggestions included family focused events and community workshops on relevant topics. We see a need to collaborate with other organizations to become more integrated with and connected to things happening in Montpelier. We think it would be a mistake to re-create the wheel with things like workshops, which historically have been hard to fill. It would be more beneficial to strengthen our connections to other groups and co-create events together.

Overall, this was a successful event, and it appears it was meaningful to people. It seems important to stay connected and not lose the thread going forward. We plan to share this information with the folks at Montpelier Alive and the Commission for Resiliency and Recovery. If there are other stakeholders the council thinks should receive the information, please let us know.

The raw comments are below.

Inclusion and Community/ Communication and information

• Identify community’s need among people who have limitations, physical or otherwise, but want to participate in helping. Need a list to match needs with capabilities.
• Need to account for people coming and going from community. Update lists and invite people into involvement.
• Put more food enterprises in local community like Red Hen and Roots Market.
• Community hub centers in the 40 cities and towns.
• Co-op’s role – Education re; mental health, housing, jobs, participate in these community conversations. Convene meetings like this one, provide food, promote to members.
• Bring back community workshops.
• Worker program – pay a limited wage along with more volunteers coming forward.
• Must reach out to marginal population: elderly, people of color, low income.
• Having no fear. Using one’s resources or the support of others to get over fear.
• Do a vulnerability assessment and understand vulnerability in its many forms. Vulnerability to flood, fire, landslide, homelessness, food insecurity.
• Include programs with Cummings St. And Downstreet housing.
• Sidewalk refrigerators in neighborhoods.
• Getting together with your neighbors.
• Increase culture of community.
• Offer workshops that aid in community building.
• Could we offer more technical support to small business owners in Montpelier? Or other types of support.
• Connect with Montpelier Alive.
• Could the Co-op help with communication when there is a flood or other emergency?
• Sharing skills and services with each other/a time bank.
• We must have a church space for a thrift store.
• Co-op assess things they are already doing that people may not know about. For example, we sell postage stamps.
• Need better communication system to alert both business owners and homeowners to be better prepared for flooding. How can we be proactive before flooding?
• Could Co-op support CANS neighborhood? Support stronger community. Bring back Earth Day events to support community building.
• Make good food available to the most vulnerable.
• Neighborhood dinner groups.

Costs/Barriers

•  Increase support for marginalized people.
• Downtown has a significant (50%) drop in business. How can the Co-op support downtown businesses?
• Remote work/smaller daytime population.
• Social environment

Basic Needs

• Evacuate Homeless.
• The work of Byron Katie.
• Hope
• Local democracy, building trust. Love is the power.
• Marginalized people may have a hard time affording the co-op. How can we become more accessible?
• Could the Co-op support a cooperative housing model?
• Building connections with marginalized and minoritized people. Go toward instead of pushing away. Invite folks to the forefront.
• Know more about the unhoused community, understand challenges more intimately. Break down barriers of understanding.
• Resilience: organic, not preconceived.
• Support the stores that we have now.
• A more intentional approach to public spaces/places where unhoused and housed people could interface.
• Work exchange – day labor opportunities for unhoused people. Everybody needs the feeling of contributing.
• Resilience: a shared sense of vulnerability that goes beyond immediate crisis. We are all in the same boat and need each other.
• Co-op’s role: outreach to programs to unhoused people, funding when possible.

Access

• Inexpensive foods are not healthy.
• Central Vermont is an expensive place to live – hard for low-income folks.
• Broaden who the co-op serves and employs and who runs it. Reach out to new migrant groups, women. Consider Sava service.
• Recruit volunteers, coordinate all the pieces.
• Connect with Another Way so that folks on their good days could contribute to the effort alongside other community members who don’t struggle as much.
• Rebuilding
• Surpassed capacity for recovery.
• Build better to address challenges to recovery. Will challenge you to adapt-build sustainability.
• Food security – everyone impacted.

Infrastructure

• Moving the whole downtown to the college.
• Rebuilding/renovating homes to be more resilient to future flooding.
• Time challenge for facilitating help.
• Also, impressed with how quickly the hub came together after the flood.

Organization

• Figure out how community can help community – local non-profits with skills and capacity pivot to help.
• The hub coordination – a place to ask for and offer help.
• Clear, defined roles.
• Reach out to more people.
• Communication
• City management, mayor and council members are present and vocal at every meeting.
• Organize earlier – could have saved so much.

Planning

• Put emphasis on preparation, planning, identifying needs before an emergency happens.
• Capacity to adapt and have a written plan for the next flood.
• Include, communicate and hear voices with Cummings Street low-income neighborhood.
• Water management
• Which areas could have better plantings? Willows. Alders.
• Need a systemic kind of planting to deal with erosion.
• Should there be lines in each business marking what a certain amount of water means in each business?
• Absurdity of Co-op buying blueberries from Peru – eat what you can grow here.
• Co-op tapped into vendors to provide food in a crisis.
• More emergency food.
• Advance planning
• Community Action Network
• Working together as hub of emergency food coordination and distribution.
• Put plantings in the flat stretch of land by the Co-op parking lot.
• Trash Tramps could help with planting that area.
• Community drills, like fire drills.
• If governor declared a state of emergency we could get National Guard help in advance.

From an attached piece of paper:

• All working together without usual reserves; coming together as one.
• Being flexible but not breaking.
• Selfless service
• Marginalized communities not communication (?)
• City not working in conflict.
• City management not connected.
• Where is the city Mayor, manager?
• We don’t have the luxury of thinking through what needs to happen together.
• Capitalize
• What do we do to help neighbors?
• We have an aging population and marginalized poor.
• We have a shortage of hospital workers.
• Co-op must change to continue to join with communities.
• Produce from Oregon and other states is unacceptable.
• Co-op has 8k to10k members, but more women come to shop.
• Co-op needs to have more community space and get out of flood areas.