BRATTLEBORO-Have you been to 69A Elliot St. yet?
Please stop in soon! It's such a place for rich and poor, housed and unhoused, to gather, hang out, talk, eat, melt into a comfy chair.
I go there often to see how everyone's doing, to check in on new clothes, to see the day's food. I can go and meet my neighbors without money being involved. I can find out who is local, where other folks are from, or what we think about the T-shirt they're wearing. You may know their grandpa, it turns out.
I love that art is front and center, that there are tables for art making and results up on the wall. After a month, I realized I could buy one of the paintings I like the most. The artist achieved something I've been working on for years - how to have colors appear out of the blue! I hope she keeps experimenting with that process!
I know some of the neighboring stores are concerned. How do we deal with the discomfort it's easy to feel when we see someone who is hurting? When we can cross the street and go into 69A, we now have a place where we can get to know each other, and those feelings begin to shift. No one has ever asked me for money. We are all there to eat, drink, make art, relax, cool off. Isn't that something we want for our town?
I don't care if 69A stays on Elliott Street or moves into another building. I hope that we as a town will begin to see how we can support this valiant effort to meet needs that our United States are dodging these days.
Can we do it, Brattleboro? I bet we can!
Love and hope,
Judith Reichsman
Brattleboro
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