Chittenden County Houses

Sometimes life presents difficult choices, and sometimes none of the options are good. Alex worked hard, and his efforts earned him a promotion and more money. It also meant that they no longer qualified for state medical coverage for their son’s surgery.

The Dismas community is a village of people from all walks of life and many corners of the world; Volunteers for Peace has enriched this little kaleidoscope for decades.

I firmly believe that the critical ingredient of our “Secret Sauce” can be found in the simplicity inherent in our origin story. Dismas was not the product of a Vanderbilt Criminology professor who, after extensive research, analysis, and testing, developed a behavior modification-based model that would employ the skills of trained professional social workers. Instead, Dismas was born from the connection between ordinary students and regular prison inmates. Students were open-minded enough to recognize a need on the inmates’ part and open-hearted enough to do something about it. The Dismas community is compelling, not because of the sophistication of our techniques, but because of the profound depths of courage and compassion it calls its members to.