Vermonters Stitching It Together: The Deep Ties Between Mental Health, Belonging, and Strong Communities

We live in an era where it’s easy to see division: In news headlines, political polls, and anonymous online debates that too often turn rancorous. At times the discord blares so loudly that it’s difficult to hear the notes of optimism and unity that exist in our communities now and need to be amplified.

While our differences may be highlighted in the news, there are strong currents of connection and understanding that offer hope for a better future built by people who can work together even when they may have different opinions about the big issues of the day. Particularly in Vermont, with its strong sense of place, we see these connections being made every day. And we know that they have the potential to grow.

In much of the state, we are still a place where the first person to your doorstep if you call emergency responders is the neighbor who serves as a volunteer on the local fire and rescue squad. If a tree falls across the road, people pitch in to move it. If you’re traveling during a blizzard, maybe it’s the couple next door who plow your driveway. In Vermont, neighbors help neighbors.

As divisive headlines appear with increasing frequency in the run-up to the presidential election, and as some people feel unheard even amid the din, we can lean into the day-to-day behaviors that unify and connect our neighborhoods, our communities, and our state. We can also look for more places to gather over the things that bring us closer. The Vermont Community Foundation, as a statewide nonprofit organization, recognizes the importance of fostering social connections that help build civic infrastructure and strong communities. Working with charitable individuals and local nonprofit partners, the Foundation has helped fund a range of efforts to build social cohesion, including support for the arts.

The arts have a unique ability to bridge gaps, connecting people across diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Through music, visual arts, theater, and literature, people share stories that evoke empathy, inspire dialogue, and foster a sense of belonging.

The Healing Arts

Developed in partnership with charitable individuals who opened a giving account, known as a donor advised fund , at the Vermont Community Foundation, the Arts & Social Cohesion program at the VCF recognizes that art serves society beyond beauty and entertainment.

“The fundholders see the arts as a conduit to social connection—something many Vermonters are craving post-pandemic,” said Stacie Fagan, vice president for philanthropy at the Community Foundation. “They asked us to think about how they could support that basic, urgent human need for connection through the arts.”

With $250,000 in grants awarded to 29 organizations since its inception in 2023, including a grant to launch Morristown Free University, the Arts & Social Cohesion program is steadily helping to create community. “You don’t have to be an artist to benefit from making art,” said Fagan. “It bridges divides. It’s an antidote to loneliness and a balm to mental health. The very act of creating, in and of itself, can be cathartic.”

Those ideas were put into action earlier this year during a felted heart sewing workshop led by Vermont artist Peggy Smith. Offered as part of the Morristown Free University workshop series, the session provided instruction for making felt hearts and learning how to embroider. But it was about more than that.

“The idea is to give your heart away,” said Smith, who encouraged participants to anonymously gift the finished hearts to friends, family, or complete strangers. “It’s just to spread a little happiness and joy around.” Even before anyone had sewn their first stitch, glimmers of that joy were evident. Against the backdrop of a rainy afternoon in April, participants introduced themselves and sat down to learn a new skill together.

Karin, a 74-year-old woman from Brattleboro attending with her daughter, Helmi, mentioned that her mother, originally from Estonia, had enjoyed embroidering. With prompting from her tablemates, Karin shared her story. Her parents fled Estonia during the War of Independence. Born in a German refugee camp, she emigrated to the U.S. when she was one and learned English from her sister, who was old enough to attend school.

After working at Lehman Brothers in Paris and the United Nations in New York, she eventually settled in Vermont to raise her three children. “I was interested in learning about heart felting,” said Jill, a participant at the next table. “But hearing Karin’s story has been the best part.”

And that’s the idea behind Morristown Free University, said Kyle Nuse, director of development at River Arts in Morrisville, a nonprofit that created the program with Morristown Centennial Library. “It’s about fostering a sense of community,” she said. “At times of polarization and disconnection, the arts help bring people back together to work, play, and create—which has meaningful impacts on mental health and wellbeing.”

The classes offered at Morristown Free University ranged from African drumming to bread making, bringing people of all ages together to create art and new connections. The program, which was free to participants, was funded in part by a Vermont Community Foundation Arts & Social Cohesion grant.

This article features just one of the many focus areas for the VCF, so we invite you to take our Giving Quiz to identify the causes that resonate most with you—whether that’s conserving farms and forestland, arts venues and programming, access to nutritious food, women’s economic security, affordable housing, LGBTQ+ advocacy, climate and environmental issues and so many more causes.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermonters Stitching It Together: The Deep Ties Between Mental Health, Belonging, and Strong Communities .