New Vermonters Are Being Detained By ICE

February 17, 2025 0 Comments

This VT Digger article covers what happened when a New Vermonter and his family got lost on their way to Costco.

News Round-up!

People walking in snowy woods
February 14, 2025 0 Comments

Happy snowy February! For those who love winter, February is delivering!  If curling up with some reading material is your thing to do when the weather is cold outside, here are some pieces you might find of interest. It’s Valentines Day and a favorite gift is chocolate. Have you ever considered where your chocolate comes …

New Public Tracker Available To Document ICE Activity In Vermont

February 3, 2025 0 Comments

Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations are changing in Vermont, and across the country, as the new administration begins its efforts to reduce immigration into the US. Though Vermont hasn’t experienced much enforcement activity in the past, things are changing and the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project (VAAP) is looking for help in documenting what’s happening. VAAP …

Congratulations Yolanda!

January 29, 2025 0 Comments

We’re really excited to share with you that Yolanda Bansah, who has been CVRAN’s Volunteer Coordinator since last fall, has received the National John Lewis Youth Leadership Award! Yolanda was one of two young Vermonters to receive the award from the Vermont Secretary of State. Please join in us in congratulating her! You can learn …

Looking For March Arts Marathon Artists!

several brightly colored paintbrushes. Image: Rhondak Native Florida Folk Artist, Unsplash.com
January 22, 2025 0 Comments

PLEASE share this post with artists, writers, and creators you know! The Marathon is our main fundraiser, helping us help new Vermonters. Are you an artist, creator, or a writer? Do you know someone who is? The Central Vermont Refugee Action Network (CVRAN) invites painters, writers, poets, musicians, fabric and multimedia artists, sculptors, and photographers …

CVRAN Advocates For Housing Bill

Woman holding a sign for housing as a human right. Image: Rachel Cogbill.
January 14, 2025 0 Comments

“Housing Is a Human Right “Vermont Es Mi Casa” (Vermont Is My Home) “Vivienda Sin Discriminacion” (Housing Without Discrimination) The cluster of speakers in the Cedar Creek Room of the statehouse held up eye-catching signs painted on cardboard cut-out houses in Spanish and English. These members of Migrant Justice were articulate about housing problems in …

CVRAN Discusses 2025 Preparations With the Montpelier Bridge

January 10, 2025 0 Comments

CVRAN has actively been preparing for changes in national immigration policy when the Trump administration takes over later this month. You might remember the call for team leaders and volunteers that went out in December as we prepared to take in as many people as the organization could manage. Rachel Cogbill (CVRAN President) and Kathie …

Local Discussion About Welcoming New Neighbors

Hands holding coffee cups. Image: Priscilla Du Preez, Unsplash.com.
January 8, 2025 0 Comments

Vermonters continue to share ideas and thoughts on how we might welcome new neighbors to our state. Here are links to two recent opinion pieces on that topic: Bienviedo – Let’s Welcome Our New Neighbors by Tom McKone (Times Argus, December 28 2024). Mexican Hospitality and Ours by Joseph Gainza (Times Argus, December 31 2024). …

Welcoming The Stranger

Drawing of a pregnant woman, by Rachel Cogbill

Picture a young woman, nine-months pregnant, compelled by forces beyond her control to leave home and make an arduous journey with her betrothed to a foreign land, unsure of their welcome there. At this time of year, most of us raised in the Christian tradition would pretty immediately, if unconsciously, imagine this young woman as …

Local Thoughts And Conversations On Immigration

December 16, 2024 0 Comments

The changes in immigration policy that lie ahead under the Trump administration have many concerned. Here are links to a few recent media pieces that share what CVRAN and others are doing in response. Rachel Cogbill, CVRAN President –  Interview with Joseph Gainza on WGDR’s Gathering Peace. (Find it in their archives on December 7.) …