Ledgewood Heights Playground, a 2023 SoVT Vital Project, cuts the ribbon

Above: Children play on the new playground at Ledgewood Heights. Photo by Kristopher Radder for the Brattleboro Reformer. 

Last month, Brattleboro Housing Partnerships cut the ribbon on a new playground at Ledgewood Heights, designed in partnership with the children and youth who will be using it.

The playground was selected by a volunteer committee as a 2023 Vital Project in part because of the recognition that we must invest in our region’s youth.

“Surveys show that a lot of kids don’t think they matter to their communities, and that only increases as they enter high school,” noted review committee member James Salerno of Hale Mountain Research. “The Ledgewood Heights playground is a critical youth project with an imminent funding gap. Investing in youth will help keep them here and engaged in the community over the long term.”

Each year, BDCC and the Bennington Country Regional Commission ask Southern Vermont organizations and municipalities to submit projects to be included in our region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies plan. Having projects included in the CEDS indicates that a project is aligned with regional goals — which bolsters funding applications and can improve visibility with potential funders.

From this list of projects, a volunteer committee of local leaders select 10 Vital Projects for the year, as a special designation to highlight projects that the committee believes will have a particularly important impact on the region. Read more about the process and see a list of all the projects submitted here.