Climate Action Roundtable Brings Together Local Organizations To Share Solutions
On March 19, 2025, CEAC convened representatives from 14 local organizations to share how each is approaching the multi-dimensional challenge of climate mitigation and adaptation during this moment of a rapidly changing climate.
AmericCorps Member Adayliah Ley summarizes and reflects on what she learned.
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Settling into my seat, the sun peeked through the windows of the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist meetinghouse on that unseasonably warm day in mid-March. On the platform, seven representatives of state and county based non-profit organizations sat eagerly waiting to discuss the questions of how they serve our local community, what challenges they face, and how their work might overlap with that of the Climate Economy Action Center of Addison County. Around me, old friends reunited and spoke of the presentation that will unfold.
Before starting, Richard Hopkins, CEAC Board Member and Climate Date Expert, presented potent information from the Greenhouse Gas Inventory (2024) displaying updated data on the county’s total emissions. Despite a downward trend in emissions in 2020, climate impacts are up 8% from 2017. Hopkins shared his thoughts, “in spite of all the good effort we’ve all done and all the people on this panel, so far, we’re not impacting our total greenhouse gas emissions.” While every organization present serves our community in a myriad of ways, Hopkins urged attendees to have climate at the forefront of their actions as we attempt to ensure a safer, healthier, and more equitable future for all peoples.
As the event unfolded, I thought about each organization's role in our community. My daydreaming gives way towards a brighter future. One where Vermonters are able to own their own efficient and comfortable homes, financed and weatherized with the support of a number of organizations on the panel. A future where food is affordable, healthy, and locally-sourced and where adults and children commute to and from work and school safely and by bike, foot, or bus. Perhaps, I’m getting ahead of myself, but considering the invaluable work of the fourteen organizations that joined us, you might begin to write your own hopeful future…
Addison Housing Works (AHW) – Elise Shanbacker
In her role as the executive director of Addison Housing Works (AHW), Elise Shanbacker is dedicated to providing safe, affordable housing for low and moderate income residents. AHW owns and manages 750 permanently affordable homes, including apartments, single family homes, and manufactured housing communities.
In her synopsis of the organization, Shanbacker shared, “When we develop new housing in Addison County, we develop it in designated downtowns or village centers, so compact dense development that’s walkable, reduces commutes, and so forth. Our construction itself meets Vermont’s ‘Stretch Code,’ often exceeds that code… This [Vergennes’s community apartments] was at the time the tightest residential multifamily building in New England, it met passive house standards for air sealing, so we’re building to very high energy standards in smart growth patterns to reduce energy use.” As an organization, AHW faces challenges prohibiting the development and implementation of new affordable and manufactured housing as well as the high cost of construction.
Cornerstone Housing Partners, formerly NeighborWorks – Melanie Paskovich
Serving Addison, Rutland, and Bennington Counties, Melanie Paskovich has run the Heat Squad team since 2010 which has helped over 6,500 Vermonters with energy audits and secure 3,000 households with warmer, safer, healthier, and more efficient homes with an average of almost $1000 annually per household.
Cornerstone Housing Partners also runs statewide programs including a home ownership center. Paskovich stated, “We do home buyer education, counseling, foreclosure intervention, we help you to get ready to buy a home. We also have a lending arm, we do down payment assistance, home repair loans, home energy loans…” The list goes on. Aside from getting the actual work done, like weatherization, repairs, and education, their program ensures more Vermonters build generational wealth by owning their own homes.
Helping customers through every step of the home energy project, similar to the Energy Navigators, Heat Squad supports households of all income levels through the process of saving energy and environmental resources by prioritizing their needs. While they have succeeded in assisting thousands of households, they are in need of contractors to perform the work. From weatherization to heat pump installation, we are facing a workforce shortage in Addison County. Paskovich ended her presentation by highlighting the importance of messaging, “It takes all of us together to do this work, but I think just getting that messaging out there about all of these groups that do this great work is how we can further work together.”
HomeShare Vermont – Ric Cengeri
No stranger to public speaking thanks to career in radio, Ric Cengeri serves as the Communications Specialist at HomeShare Vermont. The organization’s mission focuses on bringing Vermonters together to share their homes by creating compatible matches between hosts and guests through an exchange of rent, household help, and/or errands. Starting forty-three years ago in Burlington, the program has since spread across the state with 90 matches in place. It’s no small feat either, Cengeri explained. The process, he stated, is “methodical, it's purposeful, and it’s slow. And, so, it can be difficult for those seeking more immediate housing solutions. We hope that we keep people out of emergency housing up front by providing a very affordable option to them.” As an organization, HomeShare Vermont hopes to continue creating matches across the state and ensure financial stability for hosts and affordable and safe housing for guests.
Champlain Valley Farmers Coalition – Kate Longfield
As the Water Quality Program Manager for the Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition, Kate Longfield provides technical assistance to Vermont dairy and livestock farmers as well as facilitating educational workshops on a range of topics including agronomic and agricultural policy.
Founded as a formalized knowledge-share network for farmers in Champlain Valley, the organization has served farmers for thirteen years. Highlighting the importance of water quality and soil health in partnership with UVM Extension and conservation districts as a key factor in ensuring economic resiliency for farmers. Most recently, they have launched an internship program for Addison County high schoolers where students build up skills and relationships on farms in order to address staffing issues and ensure a skilled workforce. This work is important to all of us as agriculture makes up a large portion of the valley’s economy. Longfield said, “Everyone, I feel like, in this county is connected somehow to a farm.” Without farms our landscapes would look a whole lot different both physically and socio-economically.
Addison County Relocalization Network – Lindsey Berk
Addison County Relocalization Network works to strengthen the local food and farming community/economy in the Champlain Valley. Through their various programs including the food hub, Farmacy, Tour de Farms, ACORN works to ensure food sovereignty which provides a pathway towards liberation for all peoples. Expanding on the Farmacy program, Berk explained that by providing one hundred food insecure households with $60,000 worth of local food for the past seven years has afforded ACORN to, “minimize food miles, increase farm viability for farms that work with the best ecological practices,” for improved water and soil quality.
Referring back to the Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Berk noted that a third of Addison County’s greenhouse gas emissions is a result of agricultural practices and is still rising.
While off-the-bat, food and climate may not be directly related to the work of several other energy-focused organizations on the panel, Lindsey Berk, ACORN’s Executive Director, highlighted the critical role of farmers in building resiliency of the climate and food systems and the key intersections that inspire her to do this work.
Tri Valley Transit – Mary-Claire Crogan
Providing public transportation for everyone, including all ages and all socioeconomic backgrounds, Tri Valley Transit provides safe, accessible, and affordable commuting services. With 250,000 commuter rides per year, Tri Valley Transit helps people avoid hundreds of tons of carbon emissions by opting out of driving alone. In the near future, Tri Valley Transit hopes to electrify their entire fleet though this has been a challenging feat due to available funds.
This free transportation service affords individuals mobility as they age and since many hover at or below the poverty level. By riding the buses or volunteering to drive through the dial-a-ride program, we can all ensure the program continues and grows for the benefit of our neighbors whose ability to perform tasks related to health, employment, and well being would otherwise be limited.
Walk/Bike Council – Laura Asermily
Grown out of an increase in bike fatalities in 2016, the Walk/Bike Council serves as a citizen-led advisory group that monitors infrastructure, road replacing, sidewalk connectivity, and bus stop projects to promote safe routes to school and work. Laura Asemily shared that the group is trying to “change the habits of our towns from being car centric to more bike and pedestrian centric, and it’s really hard because we’re addicted to speed.” While it may not seem reasonable considering the rurality of the county, we can at the very least, Asermily mentioned, “pay attention to our shoulders.” By ensuring clear, wide shoulders, commuters can at the very least be able to navigate the roads to and from their homes.
Energy Navigators – Shannon Bryant
The Energy Navigators grew out of CEAC’s Climate Action Plan for Addison County offering residents an opportunity to reduce their home’s greenhouse gas emissions. With the help of local expertise and informed recommendations, clients of the Energy Navigators can rely on their consultant to be there throughout the entire home energy upgrade process. And while this work is informed by the research and lived experience of CEAC and community members, Shannon reported in her presentation that “talking about climate change is not doing it for people… what we are finding is that our successes are when we talk about reducing cost, increasing comfort, and increasing homeowner control over energy usage.” By performing at-home navigation with clients, the navigators are on track to support county-wide residents in knowing more about their own homes and performing the key steps to making their homes more efficient and comfortable by utilizing the network of financial support available to them.
There are several obstacles the organization is facing however including a workforce shortage, a lack of skilled contractors, and uncertainty around financial incentives.
Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) – Dwight DeCoster
CVOEO supports area-wide anti-poverty efforts to ensure financial security and care for low-income Vermonters. Joined by Dwight DeCoster, Director of the Champlain Valley Weatherization Program, one of many of CVOEO’s vital community support networks, DeCoster helps facilitate work to make homes safe and healthier. For qualifying residents, CVOEO supports 100% free weatherization work which allows people to heat their homes for less and spend those savings on other necessities like food and medicine.
350 VT - Addison County Node – Roger White
People-powered and people-led, 350 VT works in predominantly volunteer-led nodes across the state for climate justice. Dedicated to climate work in a variety of different topics, the organization has taken on projects in transportation, weatherization, electricity, and communications. Emphasizing low-emission energy solutions for Vermont, Roger White noted the organization's commitment to equity, affordability, and legitimacy. This year in particular, 350 VT has organized volunteer nodes to help with weatherization work parties in order to assist with the process of improving the residential sector. Additionally, they are focused on solidarity by recognizing and supporting the Vermonters who face the worst of the climate crisis due to socio-economic and geographic factors. Working alongside Migrant Justice, who was not present at the CAB meeting, 350 VT has been advocating for support systems that minimize roadblocks to affordable housing (H.169) for migrant families, a keystone of our workforce and communities.
Zero Energy Now (ZEN) – Tom Perry
ZEN is a non-profit program designed to transition existing homes off of fossil fuels as affordably as possible. The state of Vermont has a goal of being 90% renewable by 2050, and as Tom Perry mentioned, “little is being discussed on how we can actually do it, especially in existing homes.” In order to meet this 2050 goal, every home needs to get off of fossil fuels and embrace renewable energy. Designed for any homeowner of any income, ZEN performs 3 essential steps: increasing the home’s weatherization, switching out the home’s fossil fuel dependent heating system, and lastly, installing some sort of renewable energy source, like a solar array, or buying in a community solar share. This process allows homeowners to reduce their energy costs and fossil fuel use to zero or near zero. While securing energy savings for homeowners, ZEN works to provide affordable financing options to pay off project costs that are comparable to previous spending on heating and cooling.
Vermont Community Thermal Networks – John Barstow
The Middlebury Thermal Energy Network Working Group is focused on harnessing the wasted heat energy from our industrial and commercial buildings and using that energy to heat and cool other spaces. This large-scale project is not unprecedented. Other municipal projects like sewer and water are all interconnected, so why not heating and cooling? This project would allow for affordable heating and cooling of nearby housing units as well as lowering emissions across the municipality. Barstow stated that “this is the future of decarbonization,” due to its overarching impact on town-wide buildings and residents.
Window Dressers – Allison Pouliot
Window Dressers bring together community volunteers of all economic and social situations to help improve the comfort of interior spaces to lower heating costs and reduce carbon dioxide pollution. By producing low-cost, window inserts that function as interior storm windows for homes across Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. 35% of their inserts go to low-income residents for free or low-cost. Introduced in Vermont in 2018, community build efforts help hundreds of households yearly and since its creation in 2010, they have built 78,000 inserts to date. This process takes more than knowing the size and number of windows in one’s house, Pouliot shared that “the biggest challenge we face in reaching low and moderate income households is gaining their trust.” By developing partnerships with trusted individuals in each town and having committed volunteer crews, Window Dressers is able to help homeowners and renters address their home discomfort affordably.
Addison County Regional Planning Commission – Jolyon Larson
Covering a wide array of policy sectors to pursue equitable results for Addison County’s municipalities, the Addison County Regional Planning Commision (ACRPC) was formed through a network in the region to provide the support and capacity to get things done on a local level. Jolyon Larson’s role as an Energy Planner affords him the opportunity to connect community-based organizations to statewide resources. “We don’t necessarily set the agenda and we don’t always make a decision per say, we help formulate solutions. When an organization or municipality comes to us with a problem, we’re going to help them through it.” One of the key responsibilities of the ACRPC is to work alongside other regional planning commissions to lobby the state government in providing what the people need from public health options to internet service. Larson’s passion for environmental justice and equity drives his work by intentionally writing policies that support the wider community.
Once our presenters wrapped up, the floor was open to the public.
Greg Dennis, former CEAC Board Member, shared his fears and frustrations with the group, “Climate efforts in Vermont are under attack. One of our three major parties doesn’t want to do much on climate… If you are at all inclined to be involved, please pay attention to what’s happening in Montpelier.”
New Haven resident Betsy Taylor reminded us of the national context in which we work, “To build on what Greg just said, we also have a federal administration that is doing everything in its power to advance fossil fuels, block clean energy and regenerative agriculture, and nature-based climate solutions.” She ended by asking about federal funding sources and how many of our local organizations would proceed considering devastating, nation-wide funding cuts to the programs that sustain us.
There’s no easy answer to this question, but John Barstow stated witfully that we need more generous, progressive, billionaires which was met with laughter and skepticism.
Our last question was posed by Fran Putnam, Weybridge Energy Committee Member. While she didn’t have a solution for the federal funding problem because there is no simple answer, she did ask a question that has stuck with me since, “We’ve heard from fourteen groups, does anyone have plans to get this group together informally to talk to each other about where there’s overlap and how reach people who are not informed or don’t necessarily come to town meeting? I would love to see communication amongst this group of people.”
Of course, many of these organizations are already collaborating on several fronts, but I think Putnam was asking us to think about that climate future I was alluding to earlier. How can we, the people in this space who care so passionately about the climate, reach those who have yet to be pulled into this work? How can we meet people where they’re at and work together towards a more promising future for every farmer, teacher, bus driver, healthcare worker, and any individual within our community that faces the hardships of our society?
In reuniting to discuss how the work that CVOEO can be further enhanced by 350 VT or the ACRPC or how Window Dressers inserts can be used in homes identified by the Energy Navigators and HomeShare Vermont, we can support homeowners and renters across the county and set an example for the rest of the state. Perhaps, you can see that future now too…
