The staff of the Brooks Memorial Library are the 2024 Unsung Heroes! Two great articles were written about the awardees, so check the articles out to learn more about these amazing community members. 

Commons article: Brattleboro library staff wins an award for compassion
Reformer article: Brooks Memorial Library staff are the Unsung Heroes of 2024

The latest Compassion Story has twists and turns! Melinda Taranto-Garnis writes: "He walked into my writing group wearing a MAGA hat. My stomach clenched at the sight. This group was a refuge away from all the discord in our country — a place of safety. People like that were not supposed to be here. But he sat down and immediately felt the need to announce his political leanings. I felt gut punched. MAGA Man was here." Read the rest of the story to know the surprises!

From the most recent Compassion Story by Rev. Scott Couper: "I’m sure many of us have found ourselves in this dilemma: Someone comes to us asking for assistance, we would love to be able to help, but we are up to our eyeballs with urgent tasks at work. How sad, how frustrating.
​
"I received a call today from a gentleman with many such needs. On my own, I found myself unable to be much help – I was simply overloaded with pressing responsibilities at the church. But then I was struck anew by the truth of the almost cliche phrase ‘it takes a village.’" Continue reading to hear how Scott tapped community resources to help someone in a way he couldn't have done on his own.

Here's an excerpt from our most recent compassion story: "The village of Birdsprings, Tsidi To’ii, on the Navajo Na-tion, is one of Brattleboro’s Sister Communities. At the center of this community is The Little Singer Community School, named after the Medicine Man, Little Singer, who spirited the creation of the school at a time when all children were taken from their homes to boarding schools in order to erase their language and culture. Little Singer dreamed of a school that would never be a boarding school and where the language and the culture would be returned to the children." Read the whole story.

From the latest Compassion Story in the Brattleboro Reformer: "I have lived in Dorchester for about three years and feel fortunate to be part of this interesting spot in the greater Boston area. As with nearly every city, parking can be difficult to find here. Even when it isn’t, people can get frustrated when they can’t find the exact spot they want, the coveted space in front of their house, for example. As I discovered during a recent interaction, sometimes people will go to great lengths to retain their favorite spot." Read the rest of this Compassion Story.

Check out this great piece that explores the Windham County Heat Fund and how it has been compassionately helping our neighbors since 2005. From the article: "The gap between the haves and the have-nots is greater than it has ever been, and there is no indication that we will be living in a society of economic equality anytime soon” ... and “We can step back and try to look at the big picture, but, in the end, we are changing the world with small efforts that make a big difference.” Read the story.

In this December Compassion Story Kate Anderson and Jim Levinson explore the concept of Blue Zones and how they relate to the idea of compassion. Check out the story.