Winston Prouty celebrates 55 years of ‘vision’ and ‘solutions’

By Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer, published November 12, 2024

BRATTLEBORO — Time flies when you’re building a neighborhood. 

Just ask Chloe Learey, executive director of the Winston Prouty Center of Child and Family Development, as her group is celebrating its 55th anniversary but shining a light specifically on the last five years of work on campus. 

“It’s a lot,” she said. “It made me think about how much we’ve grown since I’ve even started.” 

Since Learey joined the organization in 2007, the number of employees went from about 20 to 67. Ten of them are working the family shelter added in March. 

When Learey initiated the Windham County Child Care Counts Coalition in 2018, the goal was to increase the number of slots for early education.

“One of the barriers was finding the workforce,” said Marty Cohn, public relations professional and coalition member. “Now, you’re talking about being fully staffed. Not only are you having staff but you have people who want to come here.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the center ran six early education classrooms. It opened with four during the pandemic and had been unsuccessfully in reopening one last fall. 

This year, the fifth classroom was added back. Investments in child care from Vermont’s Act 76 are “really helping us,” Learey said. She also cited the federal Payroll Protection Program as a source of funding that supported her group during the pandemic. 

In November 2022, the center achieved a fully leased campus. The 184-acre property with several buildings, formerly the home of the Austine School for the Deaf, had been purchased in 2016.

Campus planning began about five years ago. About 70 people came to an event to discuss financial viability, needs in the community and energy efficiency. 

A 25-member task force completed a campus plan in January 2020. Much of the plan has been completed, Learey said. 

In the process, the potential for putting housing units on campus came up. Learey credited Chris Campany, executive director of the Windham Regional Commission, for seeing potential in the property as it had infrastructure and a willing landowner. 

As part of its dissolution in 2022, the Strolling of the Heifers provided the center with $175,000 to support new housing on campus. In the same year, the town of Brattleboro gave the center $50,000 for a feasibility study for the project. 

“We’re now at a point where you’re hearing folks who are saying, ‘This project is a good one I want to support,”” Cohn said.  

Now, checks ranging anywhere from $25 to $25,000 are coming in from individual donors.

Learey said her group is “responsible” for earnestly exploring the creation of housing units on campus. Children and families can’t thrive without housing, she added. 

The hope is to commence the first phase of the project next year. Ultimately, the goal is bring as many as 300 units to the campus.

Learey said the first phase will likely entail 20 to 40 units, which wouldn’t require new water or sewer infrastructure.  

“We have to prove we can do this thing,” she said.

By the end of December, the goal is to raise $150,000 for planning and engineering. After a commentary by Learey came out in the Reformer about the fundraising campaign, she received about five calls. 

About $56,000 has been donated so far in the campaign. 

“People want to contribute to things that make a difference, especially after the election,” Learey said. “I think people are looking for ways they can contribute to solutions.”

Learey estimates the project will cost millions of dollars to complete. Predevelopment work is known to be difficult to fund but allows the center to continue planning and developing a financial strategy, she said. 

Donors acknowledge the project is risky “because we haven’t done this before but believe in Winston Prouty and the vision,” Learey said, “because we have been here for 55 years and we keep offering solutions.” When the community needs something, she said, “we step up. If we have something to offer, we step up.” 

“I think people feel inspired to be part of the solution,” she said. 

If the center raises another $30,000, it will unlock $25,000 more. Learey said a donor, who already made a significant contribution, has pledged to provide the match if the center could reach another $40,000, and another $10,000 has already come in. 

The center is no stranger to shelters or housing. From 2017 to 2019, it hosted the seasonal overflow shelter operated by Groundworks Collaborative. Also, the Wheeler House on campus has offered housing for refugees. 

Learey said the family shelter is “going really well.” Nearly full as of Thursday, the shelter can host as many as 47 people. 

With the family shelter on campus, children have a place to play outside. Support services also can be accessed on site. 

“I think it’s a beautiful place to live and it’s safe,” Learey said. “Every time I think about it, I feel really proud that we get to help families this way.”

Learey counted four families who have moved from the shelter to apartments since it opened. 

In March, Learey was invited to be the guest of U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt, at President Biden’s State of the Union address. She was recognized for her leadership in the world of child care and her quest to bring a big chunk of housing to Brattleboro. 

“These are issues that are important to working families, not just in Vermont but across the country,” Balint said in an interview at the time. 

Learey said her group is “going to build a neighborhood.”

“We already have elements of a neighborhood here,” she said. 

In 2022, the Brattleboro Winter Farmers Market moved to the campus. 

“They really love being here,” Learey said. “It’s really accessible.”

Recently, a 5K was hosted on the property. Learey said some attendees had never visited the trails on campus. 

In five years from now, she hopes to see the housing units built or well on their way to completion. She said she sees the needle moving on child care issues, such as the need for increased wages and more slots, and would like it to continue. 

The local coalition is in the process of merging with one in Springfield. Learey anticipates the groups will develop a regional strategic plan together.