BURLINGTON, VT – Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Representative Becca Balint (VT-AL) today announced five Vermont organizations received federal investments through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Community Facilities Grants, which support and strengthen rural development in Vermont and across America. 

The USDA Community Facilities Grants will support projects in the Town of Hardwick, Castleton, Greensboro, Cabot, and Lyndonville. The $914,000 awarded to Vermont is part of an $800 million investment from the USDA across 36 states and two territories, supporting an estimated 480,000 people in rural communities.

“Vermont’s rural communities make our state strong, and we’re working together to ensure the federal government is delivering for the families, farmers, and workers who call these vibrant towns and villages home. These Community Facility grants from the USDA will help support our local economies, jumpstart new infrastructure projects and redevelopment, and create jobs here in Vermont,” said the Vermont Delegation.  

“With this essential funding through Community Facilities grants, rural towns throughout Vermont will see quality of life improve in real time,” said Sarah Waring, State Director of USDA Rural Development. “From a state-of-the-art Styrofoam recycling machine and a roof for a nursing home in the Northeast Kingdom, to library improvements in Lamoille and Rutland Counties, these investments provide a path forward for people looking to make the right economic and environmental choices. And those choices are made possible by our committed congressional partners and their dedicated staffs, here on the ground and in Washington.’’

Information on Vermont’s recipients can be found here and below:  

• Jeudevine Memorial Library: This $600,000 Rural Development investment will be used for facility renovation and expansion of the historic library, adding nearly 5,000 square feet to the building, creating new reading rooms, circulation space, multi-purpose spaces and an accessible restroom.
• Castleton Free Library: This $125,000 Rural Development investment will be used to renovate the library and improve accessibility and services for those with limited mobility, including an addition of an elevator and a handicap-accessible bathroom to the library’s historic building, which was built in 1930.
• Faith in Action Northern Community Partnership Inc.: This $83,000 Rural Development investment will be used help the group—which conducts food-shelf distribution and other community support services—purchase the building it currently rents, reducing operating funds for the group by eliminating rent fees and enabling them to purchase additional food supplies. 
• Greensboro Nursing Home: This $70,000 Rural Development investment will be used to fund the replacement of the entire roof covering and drip edge surfaces for the Greensboro Nursing Home in Greensboro, Vermont.
• Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District: This $36,000 Rural Development investment will be used to purchase a commercial grade polystyrene (Styrofoam) recycling machine, NEK WMD will be the first solid waste facility in Vermont to recycle this product.  

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