Fall Fundraising Letter 2024

 

Dear Neighbor,

 

We call Vinalhaven home. Whether year-round or as a summer resident, you are here because Vinalhaven is a unique and special place. However, lack of affordable housing threatens the future of our island community by driving year-round residents from their homes, forcing young people to move away and reducing the workforce which has kept Vinalhaven functioning for over two centuries. The nonprofit Vinalhaven Housing Initiative (VHI) was formed in 2023 to address this urgent issue and to establish the housing necessary to sustain our island community.

 

In just one year we’ve accomplished so much! With your support and the work of volunteers and staff, VHI has been awarded an $840,000 grant from Maine Housing to build four units of year-round Affordable Housing at 16 East Boston Road. Construction begins in October. Managing this and future projects requires a substantial operating budget, which is not included in the grant.  

 

In these crucial formative days we ask for your support – from the small donor to the generous leader – to build momentum for our $200,000  campaign to fund VHI operational costs. We hope that you will contribute to VHI to ensure that there is a place here for our elders and the next generation of islanders as well as the teachers, tradesmen, fishermen, medical support staff and the many working people who make our island home a viable off-shore community. This is an issue that affects us all.

 

Please consider a donation to VHI and join in protecting one of Maine’s last working islands from the loss of its year-round community. Your generous support is greatly appreciated and vital to the work we do.

 

With Gratitude, 

​

The VHI Team