Serve Learn Earn coalition asks committee for $500,000 more in base funding to restore conservation and ag workforce programs
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Summary
Kate Gluckman of Vermont Works for Women and coalition partners (Audubon Vermont, VYCC/Vermont Youth Conservation Corps) told the committee Serve Learn Earn served nearly 550 participants last year and requested an additional $500,000 in base funding (to total $1 million) to sustain training, stipends and service projects across forestry, habitat and food-security programs.
Kate Gluckman, director of development and communication at Vermont Works for Women, and partners from Audubon Vermont and the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps asked the Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry committee to support a $500,000 increase in base funding for their Serve Learn Earn collaborative.
“We are asking for you to support an additional $500,000 in base budget for a total of $1,000,000 to support these programs that really boost our workforce in the areas of conservation and sustainable agriculture and forestry,” Gluckman said. She described Serve Learn Earn as a collaborative of four nonprofits that provides paid, cohort-based training, industry-recognized credentials, and a service component that connects participants to employers.
Gluckman said the coalition served nearly 550 participants last year, about 61% aged 15–24, and completed roughly 270 projects across habitat, forestry, recreation and food-security work. In a follow-up survey of 2024 participants she reported 99 newly employed within six months among respondents and several examples of participants returning to school or continuing service programs.
Jamie Fiedel of Audubon Vermont described Audubon’s contributions in habitat assessment, forest resiliency work, support for sugarbush owners and seasonal educators. A VYCC representative outlined crew-based forestry projects (36 project weeks planned), residential and day-crew program models, and a Richmond campus with a 10-acre diversified farm that produced about 50,000 pounds of vegetables and runs a prescription-vegetable program serving about 480 families.
Committee members asked how the funds flow; Gluckman said the funding comes from Forests, Parks & Recreation (FPR) and flows through VYCC (Vermont Youth Conservation Corps) as fiscal agent and then to partner organizations. She said the program currently has $500,000 in base FPR funding and last year received $250,000 in one-time support; the coalition is requesting an additional $500,000 to reach $1 million in base support.
Gluckman said recent budget cuts have reduced public funding sharply and that coalition partners have used philanthropic matching and savings to maintain services; she and partners warned that further reductions would force program cuts and reduce participant access, training capacity and employer pipelines. The coalition asked the committee to include supportive language in its budget recommendation letter and to consider the programs’ return on investment when advising appropriations.
Audubon and VYCC speakers emphasized job placement outcomes and community benefits, including hazard-tree removal, invasive-species work, flood recovery projects and a growing ‘‘food as medicine’’ partnership with regional medical centers.
Committee members indicated they will draft a budget recommendation letter and invited related agency witnesses to testify on technical questions the next day.
