THE MISSION

The Stratton Foundation is a community-based nonprofit that cares about the health and well-being of children and families in southern Vermont. Our role in the community is to respond to the needs that arise as a result of crisis, economic challenges, and quality of life for the families who live, work, and raise their children within the shires and mountain towns of our footprint. Our mission is to address the challenges that stand between a child in need and the opportunity to be healthy, safe, and prepared to learn. Our major areas of focus include Hunger, Basic Necessities, Oral Health, Mental Health and Education. Our vision is to break the cycle of generational poverty.

Hunger

We support nutritious community food pantries, school backpack and summer food programs to end the injustice of hunger and malnutrition. Poverty and hunger is particularly high within our rural mountain VT towns.  Schools witness children not eating at all or gorging because there is no food at home, on weekends, or throughout the summer.

Education

We support educational programs that set youth on a path for success and help teens develop a vision for a future of economic independence. Our area has among the highest concentration of VT families living in poverty, and it has been unchanged for decades. Children in poverty are more likely to drop out of school, perform poorly, & have health and wellness issues.

Health

We provide funding to care for the health and well-being of our disadvantaged children. There are teens in our area that have never been to the dentist, and so many that go without basic necessities and mental health services.  Geographic and socioeconomic factors form barriers that prevent poor VT children from growing up happy, healthy, and successful.

Basic Necessities

We provide children with coats, boots and warm socks in the Winter, and sneakers in the Spring, as well as funds to area schools to care for basic needs on a daily basis year round. Caring for a child’s basic needs impacts their preparedness to learn, ability to play, and capacity to thrive.  Children in poverty endure a painful stigma of economic difficulty, all for the lack of what they cannot afford.

Emergency Gifts

We provide financial assistance to those who experience hardship due to an emergency or crisis that prohibits them from caring for the needs of their family and children. A child’s care is our main priority. Help is provided to families who experience a house fire, transportation urgency, warmth crisis or other situation where the children’s safety or needs are at risk.

Scholarships

We provide First Generation and Personal Life Plan Scholarships to local high school teens to solidify their path to success and reach their future goals . Demonstrating need and potential, these young adults will go on to be educational groundbreakers for themselves and their families to break the cycle of generational poverty.