More Than Four Walls and a Roof

“We all need a home,” said Michelle Kersey, director of development at Downstreet Housing & Community Development. “It’s foundational to our lives, to raising a family and finding employment, to our physical and mental health. When people can rely on their homes, they thrive and the community around them benefits.”

Vermont’s housing crisis has been decades in the making, says Kersey, and will take a lot of intentionality to solve. “We need a full range of housing. That includes affordable housing as well as housing for people with specialized needs.”

In partnership with Vermont Foundation for Recovery, and with grant support from the Vermont Women’s Fund and donor advised fundholders at the Vermont Community Foundation, Downstreet opened Foundation House in December 2022. The three-story apartment building in Barre provides safe, stable, and supportive housing for women in recovery and their children.

Thoughtfully restored to support women in recovery without separating them from their children, Foundation House has both communal and individual apartments. The layout includes kitchenettes for late night bottle warming, communal spaces for children, a laundry room, and a “safety net” apartment for women who relapse to recover without risking eviction or the sobriety of others.

Frequent moves, short stays with friends or family members, or living in homeless shelters all present barriers to a mother’s ability to enroll her children in school, access support services, provide regular meals, and advance her own sobriety.

As Central Vermont’s only recovery house for women, Foundation House offers an example of how nonprofits, donors, and communities can come together to support women along their path to stable housing and help close the opportunity gap for the next generation of Vermonters.

A well-loved entrepreneur and philanthropist throughout her life, Victoria Buffum established the Courtney and Victoria Buffum Family Foundation in 1997 to support women and children at risk, women and single mothers, persons with brain injuries, children with disabilities, and the arts. The Foundation, named in honor of Victoria and her daughter, Courtney, continues their legacies.

In 2022, the Buffum Foundation established three designated funds at the Vermont Community Foundation and made a $1 million gift to the Vermont Women’s Fund endowment.

“We chose to partner with the VCF to leverage its ability to invest these resources and continue to support the causes we care about,” said Tom Gauntlett, Victoria’s brother and fundholder. “They put our charitable dollars to work in the community to ensure that Courtney and Vicki’s legacy will endure for years to come.”

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