Events
Pathways to 2040: Collectively Preparing for our Region’s Aging Future
January 30, 2026, Windham Aging invited a small group of leaders across the state to gather in Brattleboro to discuss our aging population across the state, and within our region. The urgency of our collective involvement in addressing rapidly aging demographic of our state was amplified during the morning with presentations by Angela Smith-Dieng, Deputy Commissioner from Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging & Independent Living, Rudy Fedrizzi, Brattleboro Public Health Services District Director, and Mark Boutwell, Executive Director of Senior Solutions.
Panelists from organizations in Windham County highlighted the way in which collaboration, and even radical collaboration, can be a way forward together as we look at Health, Wellness, Housing, Transportation, and Healthcare Workforce over the next fifteen years.
During the afternoon, participants were able to look at possible strategies and action steps to meet various objectives by 2040. The event ended with recognizing eleven leaders who had been nominated for the inaugural Elizabeth Rowell Thompson Leadership Awards in Healthy Aging. Congratulations to Claire Bemis and Jeffrey Lewis!
Thank you to our sponsors for making this event possible:
Windham Aging Report — November 2022
Through a community-driven research and analysis process, guided by the Windham Regional Commission, the Windham Aging report provides an overview of critical data sets and public reports to better understand trends related to aging within southeastern Vermont.
The report includes demographic trends in housing, income, and transportation, preventive health trends for older adults, healthcare workforce trends, and long-term care facility trends.
From the Report…
In many respects Vermont is different. We are more rural and independent by nature, and we often find solutions where other areas might become mired in the problems. There is a new and predictable momentum of aging needs and numbers weighing down the future of Windham County, Vermont. We are almost 60 years old on average, and aging in greater numbers. As we look ahead, there is a need to understand what services and activities are occurring now and consider what the future needs of an aging population look like. Every one of us is moving into this rapidly expanding older group. There are only two mysteries – what type of aging process you will experience, and whether the community will have the resources in place for you to live the life you imagined.
Student Projects
Windham Aging partners with both Dartmouth College (Tuck School of Business and Dartmouth Center for Social Impact), as well as UVM Larner College of Medicine, for student research support.
Past student research includes: Assessing Barriers for Caregivers in Vermont: Challenges of Care for Seniors in Rural a County (UVM project, 2022), Recruitment of Primary Care Professionals in Rural Vermont: An analysis of factors motivating resident physicians and DNP students at UVMMC (UVM project, 2023) and, Enhancing the Lives of Aging in Place Seniors in Vermont (Dartmouth College project, 2022).
During the summer of 2025 film studies students at Dartmouth College, in cooperation with the Center for Social Impact at Dartmouth, worked with Windham Aging to design and produce intergenerational games.
Golden Years created by Claire Mann and Aylah Purdum
Growing Closer created by Lucas Manso
Harold's Hayday created by Faith Koontz and Mackenzie Morong
Respect Your Elders! created by Max Cabianca
Star of the Story created by Maria Hebling and Faith Guttman
