Here at 69a, a community art center, we help housed and unhoused individuals and families with a sense of community, tools, and resources to help better themselves and their lives. Through art, music, laughter, and a restful neutral space, people are able to get necessary clothing, shoes, hygiene products, a meal three times a day, bathroom usage, winter and camping gear to stay warm and survive. We have a charging station, phone, Internet, and community. Our neighbors help each other to navigate through the difficulties in getting doctors, medication, emergency housing, along with so many other things like helping get IDs, documentation, as well as more simple things like an address. We also have instruments and art supplies for people who have no place to store them, or who like making art in a communal environment.
We opened our doors for this project about 9 months ago and in that time we have helped hundreds of people! At any given day, we receive anywhere from 125 to 170 people a day. We are open 7 days a week for the winter months.
Through social art practice we advocate for everyone who walks through our doors. We advocate for people on what should be simple freedoms, for example, proper medical care, being able to sit in a park without being harassed, being able to sleep in a safe area, being treated with respect and dignity. We have been working nonstop to help protect Brattleboro's most vulnerable residents.
As of this moment, not one of our staff members collects a paycheck. Even though our doors are open during the day as well as we are now working overnights as well, due to our space being a overflow shelter for the overflow shelter. We just cannot see our community members, neighbors and fellow artists suffer being out in the freezing cold at night. staff members work very long tireless hours. Our staff and volunteers come from various backgrounds. We have a lot of wonderful generous people who put in endless hours here in the space, which includes includes nurses, EMTs, retired social workers, a resource specialist, teacher with a MA in art a social art practice specialist, artists, musicians, business owners, and so many more fantastic people.
In order to continue to keep our doors open we need your help. We need monitory donations to for things like rent, utilities, and bills. So far we have been able to do everything we have done by donations alone, no grants, no loans, just amazing people and business's who see the struggle and want to be part of a solution here in town.