How has COVID-19 affected Vermonters and our ways of life? What new challenges have we faced? Who’s leading in our local communities and what are they doing in response to the crisis?  

• Robert Mandatta: “Feeding the Beloved Community from a Backcountry Kitchen — Jacqueline Labate” - Like other Vermonters, when Jacqueline Labate first heard that the local school needed volunteers to help deliver meals to the children because of COVID-19, she didn’t hesitate: “When the virus hit and everything was shut down, schools immediately got to work to continue feeding kids.  Every day all over Vermont, volunteers are working hard to […]
• Jamie Bushey: “How COVID-19 Has Affected Franklin County Families” - On December 31, 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission in China reported that there had been a recent spike of pneumonia cases coming from that area. This illness was later identified as a coronavirus, and by March of 2020, the disease had spread across the globe. Accordingly, the World Health Organization became “[d]eeply concerned both […]
• Anne Koplinka-Loehr: “Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Families in Windham County, Vermont” -

  The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global health crisis with significant effects on families everywhere, including those in Windham County, Vermont. On March 7, 2020, “The Vermont Department of Health announced the state’s first case of COVID-19,” followed on March 19 by the announcement of the first coronavirus deaths in the state. (Vermont Department of […]

• Lucas Messing: “Coronavirus in My Backyard” - Throughout these past few months, the community of Wilmington, Whitingham, and Dover, as well as our state, country, and world, have endured the deadly wrath of the COVID-19 virus. Given the numerous viewpoints on the virus and its social and psychological impact, the Nudge Theory is a useful behavioral framework to explore and apply. It […]