Community Needs Survey 2025

SEVCA 2025 Community Needs Assessment

Key Findings & Strategic Response

Why This Matters

The 2025 Community Needs Assessment confirms that while southeastern Vermont is a resilient region, many individuals and families continue to face interconnected challenges that make achieving stability difficult. Housing, food security, transportation, energy costs, and access to services are closely linked—meaning solutions must be coordinated rather than isolated.

Between surveys, interviews, and community meetings, SEVCA heard from 630 community members, partners, elected officials, and stakeholders to better understand these challenges and guide the organization's future priorities.

What We’re Hearing

Housing Remains the greatest challenge.

• Many households spend more than 30% of their income on housing
• More than 13,500 housing units have at least one substandard condition. (% of housing units in Windham/Windsor Cos.)*
• Safe, affordable housing continues to be the foundation for long term sustainability.

Our population is aging

• Nearly 25% of residents are age 65 or older
• Many older adults live along on fixed incomes and face increased risk of isolation and difficulty accessing services.

Basic needs remain under pressure

• Housing, food security and energy assistance were consistently identified as the community’s highest priorities.
• Approximately 10,000 residents live below the Federal Poverty Level**, while an estimated 20,000 – 30,000 residents live at or below 200% of poverty.

Access remains a barrier

• Residents identified transportation, geographic isolation, limited internet access and complicated systems as significant barriers to obtaining services, even when help is available.

What This Tells Us

Community members told us that challenges rarely exist in isolation. Housing affects health. Transportation affects employment. Energy costs affect household budgets. Food insecurity impacts children's ability to learn. The assessment reinforces the importance of coordinated, whole person approaches that make it easier for individuals and families to access the support they need.

How SEVCA is responding

The Community Needs Assessment is shaping SEVCA's next chapter.

Over the next three years, SEVCA will focus on:

• Aligning programs and developing new ones where needed to align with emerging community needs
• Strengthening partnerships and coordination across services
• Improving outreach so more people know about available resources
• Expanding participant feedback and satisfaction efforts
• Developing a new Strategic Plan guided by community input.
• Implementing a renewed Mission and Vision focused on partnering with individuals and communities to alleviate hardships, create opportunities, and address the root causes of poverty.

Looking Ahead

Listening to our communities is not a one-time project.

SEVCA will continue gathering feedback through participant surveys, community partnerships, community events, and everyday interactions to ensure our work evolves alongside the needs of southeastern Vermont.

Learn More & Share Your Feedback

Community input continues to shape our work.

Please complete our Community Satisfaction Survey: https://sevca.org/satisfaction-survey

* Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey. 2019-23.

**Federal Poverty Level (2025): For a family of four, the Federal Poverty Level is approximately $33,000 per year (about $2,750 per month). That means a single parent earning Vermont's minimum wage would need to work more than a full-time job—about 44 hours every week, year-round—just to reach the poverty line.