As of November 1, 2025, millions of Americans—including many older Vermonters—may not receive their monthly food benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. This disruption affects individuals living on fixed incomes, many of whom rely on SNAP to afford groceries and maintain their health.
November is National Family Caregivers Month, a chance to recognize the contributions, commitment, and sacrifices made by America’s 63 million family caregivers every single day.
As Chittenden County’s district coordinator for the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program, Philip Soltau, 77, is this year’s recipient of the AARP Andrus Award for Community Service in Vermont.
The spread of the coronavirus across our country has created a very stressful environment for Vermonters and especially older people and those with underlying health conditions who are at heightened risk. We are working hard to help our members, their families and the broader community understand how to protect themselves.
We’re writing with an important message to let you know that we have canceled our external events until further notice. While convening events is a core part of our mission, we have changed our approach in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Americans are paying the highest prescription drug prices in the world. Patients in the United States, on average, pay four times as much as consumers in similar countries for the SAME prescriptions. We know that many Vermonters are struggling to pay for their prescriptions and in fact, in 2016 18% of Vermont residents stopped taking prescription medications as prescribed due to cost.
Tuesday, January 7, was the first day of the second half of the Vermont legislative biennium and it was off to a quick start. By the end of the second half of the biennium, proposed legislation either lives or dies, and bills that do not pass this legislative session must start all over again in the new biennium in 2021.
AARP has opened applications for the 2020 AARP Community Challenge grant program to fund “quick-action” projects that spark change across the country. Now in its fourth year, the program is part of AARP’s nationwide work on Livable Communities. Grants can range from several hundred dollars for small, short-term activities to several thousand, or tens of thousands for larger projects. In Vermont last year, grants totaling more than $42,000 were awarded to the cities of Newport and Bennington for specific community development projects in those communities.