Greater Bennington Community Services or GBCS (pronounced jee-bix) is a community-based, non-profit organization. We work with people who live in or near poverty in Bennington County, Vermont. Our mission is to advance the health of our neighbors by helping them meet their basic human needs including access to food, shelter and healthcare. In other words, our programs aim to improve the health and well-being of Bennington area residents.

The GBCS team understands that living in or near poverty affects your health, so we’re here to help! Because we embrace a philosophy of radical hospitality, we welcome you as a member of our beloved community. Firstly, we strive to meet you where you are. Secondly, we encourage you to bring what you can to the table. Only together can we identify how to get you where you want to be.

Additionally we pride ourselves on the diversity of people we see here at GBCS. In fact, the Kitchen Cupboard and Free Clinic waiting rooms are known locally as “the United Nations” of Bennington. When you are at GBCS, you can expect to be treated respectfully. Thus, we ask that you treat all GBCS staff, volunteers and program participants respectfully in return.

The GBCS Philosophy

Of course, we know poverty is a huge problem. Certainly not one that we can solve alone. Moving up and out of poverty requires more than a stream of income. It requires a reservoir of personal and community assets too. Therefore we encourage our guests to bring what they can to the table. Our guests identify where they are and where they want to be eventually. Then we provide tools to assist them in that process.

Moreover our team is always working to better understand the issues of poverty. So we spend time learning about the culture of poverty. We also are trained in the social determinants of health and motivational interviewing. Instead of the old model that emphasizes charity for people in poverty, we involve guests in the process.

Furthermore, GBCS welcomes people of all gender identities and reaches out to local farms that employ people who are undocumented. In fact, our nondiscrimination policies were created with this in mind. We provide services regardless of race, color, national origin, age, ability, sex, gender identity, religion, or political beliefs. Similarly, we don’t discriminate based on marital status, familial or parental status, residency status, sexual orientation. Nor do we discriminate based on whether all or part of an individual’s income comes from any public assistance program.

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GBCS Staff

 

Karin Nicholson

Health Access Coordinator