Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) is providing a series of 4 Financial Fitness workshops to provide training, support and resources to help participants gain control and manage their money. Workshop topics include: creating a personal, workable budget; reducing debt; setting personal goals; modify spending; basics of banking; plus credit.

For info about Vermont food and other resources, Click HERE.

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SEVCA is here to support you and your family during these hard to fathom times. 

Check out our RESOURCE GUIDE and learn more about the food, rental, business, and other financial programs available to help you, your family, your household, and your community.

Give SEVCA a call to make an appointment with a Recovery Navigator or other staff member. 

Our Main Office number is 800-464-9951. 

You can find direct numbers to our satellite offices HERE. 

SEVCA is offering a number of new programs.

Check out our Family Services Expanded offerings. New programs include Medical Assistor, Recovery Navigator, and the statewide Rapid ReHousing Initiative. Click HERE. 

For more information about our Free Workshop Series on Money Management, click HERE.

To learn more about the statewide EMBRACE grant for micro businesses, click HERE.

To learn more about Vermont Everyone Eats, check it out HERE, or read our recent press release HERE.

SEVCA is pleased to announce new programs, Healthcare Assistors, COVID-19 Recovery Navigators, and Rapid Resolution Housing.  State-certified Healthcare Assisters are now available to help individuals apply, update, or resolve issues with their health insurance through Vermont Health Connect. Assisters provide information about health insurance, qualified health plans, Medicaid and other public programs, and offer impartial application assistance.

Open enrollment for health insurance begins November 1 for coverage beginning January 1, 2021. However, if you’ve lost health insurance coverage or experienced a qualifying event like pregnancy/birth/adoption, marriage/divorce, aging out of parental coverage, among other life changes, you may be eligible for a special enrollment period. Medicaid and Dr. Dynasaur, VT health insurance for children, continues enrollment year round.

If you need help applying for, updating, or resolving issues with your healthcare insurance, call SEVCA to set up an appointment with a Healthcare Assister. Residents of Windham County can request an appointment with a healthcare assister by calling Daniel Quipp at 802-428-3038. Residents of Windsor County can request an appointment by calling Laura Prothero at 802-428-3029.

COVID-19 Recovery Navigators

SEVCA’s Recovery Navigators are available to assist families and individuals impacted by the COVID-19 public health crisis in accessing programs, financial help, and services like housing, utility, and other types of assistance. For more information, please contact Daniel or Laura at the numbers above or SEVCA’s outreach offices in Brattleboro, Westminster, Springfield, or White River Junction. Contact info for offices: https://sevca.org/contact/sevca-locations.

Rapid Resolution Housing Initiative

SEVCA is also administering the Rapid Resolution Housing Initiative funding for Windham and Windsor Counties. The Rapid Resolution Housing Initiative (RRHI) is a state-wide program to help Continuum of Care (CoC) partners throughout the state reduce homelessness. This program provides short-term, one-time financial assistance to people who are currently homeless or who experienced homelessness, between April 1 and June 30, 2020, in order to access safe housing. RRHI funds can be used for security deposits and rental support, in addition to alleviating barriers to obtaining housing, for ex. old utility balances and deposits, reducing debt, moving costs, etc.

Partners in the three CoCs in Windham and Windsor Counties can contact Pat Burke (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Amy Downing (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) for application materials and more information. If you are experiencing a housing crisis and would like more information about SEVCA’s housing programs, please call 800-464-9951 and you will be directed to your local SEVCA office.

In accordance with our mission, SEVCA continues to provide services to support individuals and families with low incomes in Windham and Windsor Counties, and these include a wide array of programs addressing immediate needs for housing, clothing, food, fuel/utilities, and other essentials, and more long-term needs like home weatherization, Head Start, small business development, Financial Fitness courses, matched savings plans, Ready for Work services, and tax preparation. SEVCA’s Good Buy stores are open, and Head Start is accepting applications. Find out more at www.sevca.org, or call 1-800-464-9951.

FINANCIAL FITNESS Courses

Fall 2020

Now is a great time to learn more about how to gain control and manage your money. Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) is providing a series of 4 Financial Fitness workshops to provide training, support and resources to help participants gain control and manage their money. Workshop topics include: Creating a personal, workable budget; Reducing debt; Setting personal goals; Modify spending; Basics of banking; and understanding credit.

The workshops are free to Vermont residents and there is an incentive for those who attend all three classes on Budgeting and Credit. Attendees will be asked to confirm that they have been impacted by COVID-19. Courses will be offered in an online platform. For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Zoom Workshop dates and time:

Workshop 1: Sept 29^th: 10am-1030am                  or       Sept 30^th: 6pm-6:30pm

Workshop 2: Oct 6^th:    10am-1030am                  or       Oct 7^th: 6pm-6:30pm

Workshop 3: October 13^th: 10am-10:30am             or       October 14^th: 6pm-6:30pm

Workshop 4: October 20^th: 10am-10:30am             or       October 21^st: 6pm-6:30pm

Workshop 1: Take Control of Your Money – Start by Creating a Budget

Date:   Sept 29^th: 10am – 10:30am   OR     Sept 30^th: 6pm-6:30pm

Understanding and tracking the details of your financial situation is the start to making better money decisions and building a more secure future.   And when life situations change, and it often does (job loss, moving, illness, birth of a child, new job, divorce, etc.) it’s again time to review how to manage your money. This workshop will help you take control of your money by taking the first step….creating a budget.   We’ll learn what a budget is, why use one, and step-by-step create a budget.  

Workshop 2: Review Your Budget - Set Your Goals

Date: October 6^th: 10am-10:30am    OR    October 7^th: 6pm-6:30pm

In Part 2 of the series, participants will be referring to the budget created from the first workshop. Now that there is an understanding of the ins and outs of where money is going, the next step is to identify personal goals. Examples are: paying off debts or credit cards, saving for a phone or down payment on a car. Creating a plan and taking control of your income and expenses will help achieve your goals. We’ll focus on strategies to achieve goals by ways to lower expenses and to increase income, and what to do with bills you can’t immediately pay. We’ll look realistically on how long it will take to achieve goals in order to be successful.

Workshop 3: Credit Cards – Tame the Credit Card Beast

Date: October 13^th: 10am-10:30am    OR    October 14^th: 6pm-6:30pm

Let’s face it, credit cards make life more convenient. But when credit cards are overused, they become a trap and one of the biggest barriers in reaching financial goals. The average Vermont household carries a monthly balance of $5400 in credit card debt. This workshop will review credit: The Do’s and Don’ts of credit, how to avoid credit traps and ways to get out of credit card debt. We’ll also learn about the infamous “Your Credit Score”, why is it important, what causes a high or a low score and how can you improve your score.

Workshop 4: Banks and Credit Unions – Banking Basics

Date: October 20^th: 10am-10:30am    OR    October 21^st: 6pm-6:30pm

Where you keep your money, whether it’s in a bank, credit union or under the mattress, does affect your finances. This workshop will explain the differences between banks and credit unions plus describe the types of accounts, benefits, and services (and fees) that they offer. We’ll look at checking accounts, debit cards, savings accounts, loans and interest rates. We’ll also look at a few “Instant Cash” payday loan companies (where their services include a huge fee or interest payment) and “paycheck advance” services.