At CVOEO, we know that our collective care for one another helps us to thrive as a community. This month, we announce that CVOEO will assume operations of Samaritan House , share excitement for our partnership with Vermont’s Farm to Family Coupon program, and offer our Executive Director’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health decision. It is through shared resources, advocacy and compassion that we lift each other up, and we invite you to learn more below.
CVOEO & Samaritan House Press Event
It's official! Please join us for a press conference and community celebration on Wednesday, July 13 at 11AM as we welcome Samaritan House, an organization providing emergency shelter and support services to people experiencing homelessness in St. Albans, to CVOEO!

Ben Kaufmann, Program Director of the Samaritan House, shares that "our work supporting those in need in our community will only be strengthened by this partnership." With plans to update the shelter and bolster its programs, CVOEO will work with Samaritan House to address a rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness in our region.
Farm to Family Coupons
Applications are now open for Vermont’s Farm to Family Program. If approved, Vermonters can get $30 in coupons that to use to buy locally-grown, fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs at participating farmers markets and farm stands. Coupon books are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis (with application to consider income eligibility or WIC participation). Stop by or call CVOEO to learn more!
A note from Paul Dragon
On Friday, June 24th, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. This decision negates the inherent autonomy of all people who are able to get pregnant to choose what happens with their own bodies, and undermines the essence of choice and freedom.

As we reflect on this ruling at CVOEO, we do so through our mission's understanding of justice. We acknowledge the disproportionate impact that this decision, and many other laws, have on the people we serve. We fear for the ways this decision, and any decision that weakens reproductive justice, will exacerbate social and racial inequities as access to health care is restricted.

CVOEO is aligned with the Vermont Legislature in its support for the patient-physician relationship as codified in Act 47. If this time-honored relationship is ever abandoned and people lose their ability to direct their own health care, then the law’s promise of equal protection will leave our most vulnerable populations behind.

As individuals and as a society, I understand that we have strong, principled, and differing beliefs. Despite these differences we must move forward in support of one another with justice and dignity as our guide.

- Paul Dragon, Executive Director