Brother’s Brother Foundation provided a grant to Capstone Community Action, a non-profit organization headquartered in Barre, VT, that helps people in crisis access food, housing and job training. BBF also sent hygiene kits and tarps for Capstone to distribute to flood victims.

Smooth roads and Main Street shops in Barre, VT, turned into heaps of jagged asphalt and water-logged basements when a July rainstorm drenched the state with two months of rain over two days.

“This is going to be a years – if not a decade – long recovery for the state of Vermont,” the Vermont Public Safety Commissioner, Jennifer Morrison, said in a news conference after the storm passed.

BBF responded to the disaster by providing a grant to Capstone Community Action, a non-profit organization headquartered in Barre, VT, that helps people in crisis access food, housing, and job training. BBF also sent hygiene kits and tarps for Capstone to distribute to flood victims.

All four Capstone facilities–located in Orange, Washington, and Lamoille counties—have ongoing responses to support flood recovery.

In the immediate aftermath, Capstone partnered with local catering companies, World Central Kitchen and the Salvation Army to distribute free meals to anyone impacted by the flooding. It also provided bottled water, frozen meals, infant formula, hygiene kits and tarps to those in need.

Nearly 25% of Barre’s residents live in poverty and the recent storm exacerbated a food and housing crisis that was already prevalent in Vermont.

Capstone runs the largest food shelf in the area. Prior to the recent storm, it supported up to 80 people a day.

Capstone has also turned its attention to helping small businesses by launching the Vermont Main Street Flood Recovery Fund, which provides local store owners with grants to cover costs for equipment replacement, supplies, and clean-up help.

The fund began distributing grants two weeks after the storm passed, helping small business owners recover while they waited for federal and state assistance to hit their bank accounts.