News

We are moving ever closer to making our dream of a new, efficient primary care clinic building a reality. The District Commission has listed our project as “Pending” on the Act 250 website. We hope to have our permit in hand quite soon! If you have any questions about the project, please reach out!

Our friends at Big Picture Farm in Townshend are hosting a fundraiser for Grace Cottage. This family-friendly event is a great way to celebrate community–bring your picnic blankets and enjoy the picturesque scenery, live music, community camaraderie, and of course GOATS! The cost is $10, and all ticket proceeds will go directly towards Grace Cottage.

Four of our medical providers recently spent 10 days in the Bocas del Toro area of Panama, volunteering with an organization called Floating Doctors. “I’ve volunteered in Panama with Floating Doctors at various times during the past four years with my daughter and, this time, I convinced three of my colleagues at Grace Cottage to join me,” said Dr. Kimona Alin. ER Physician Assistants Phil Schafer and Brittney Book, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jen Zweig accompanied Alin this year.

Founded in 2010, Floating Doctors’ mission is to reduce the present and future burden of disease in the developing world and improve healthcare delivery worldwide. Alin, Schafer, Book, and Zweig took three flights and a cayuco (small canoe) to Isla San Cristobal, where a base clinic was set up. From there, they traveled via cayucos to other islands to provide care.

“It’s a very impressive organization,” said Schafer. “People come from all over the world to these remote coastal regions to volunteer, and Floating Doctors is doing wonders for the people who live down there; everyone is so appreciative of the free healthcare they’re receiving.”

“The work that Floating Doctors is doing is inspirational,” said Alin. “They maintain detailed records of their patients’ health and treatment, and they do it in more than 25 remote communities, treating between 30-200 patients per day, visiting each community at least every three months.”

Alin, Schafer, Book, and Zweig agree that, despite the heat, the chitra bugs (similar to no-see-ums), the mosquitoes, and the humidity, they all plan to volunteer with Floating Doctors again in the future “and you don’t have to be a medical provider to volunteer,” said Alin. “They need people down there for a wide variety of volunteer tasks.”

We’ve gone through snow, sleet, rain, and mud, but Spring is here at last, and Grace Cottage’s 16^th Annual Spring into Health 5K is right around the corner on Saturday, May 10th. Starting and ending on the Townshend Common, this 5K is open to all and a great way to get moving while having fun. Participants may run, walk, roll, or stroll. Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Moss Linder will start us off and give out door prizes afterward. Registration is free for kids under age 18, and $20 for adults if you pre-register (click here to register online – the cost is $25 on the day of the event). Free T-shirts will be given to the first 100 registrants, and if you prefer, you can register and participate virtually at a time, date, and place of your choice. Find out more here.

Our 16^th Annual Tee It Up for Health golf benefit is coming up soon on Saturday, June 7^th, at Haystack Golf Club in Wilmington. We have many returning teams again this year, but we still have room for more teams and/or individual golfers. Call (802) 365-9109 or click here to register online – registration includes greens fees, a cart, golf balls, a box lunch, snacks, a logo gift, and an awards dinner. All proceeds from the event will benefit the construction of our much-needed new primary care clinic.

Nearly every month, a Grace Cottage provider contributes an article to the Brattleboro Reformer. Read Emergency provider Dr. Kimona Alin’s 4/14/25 article on Measles, and browse past articles and other Grace Cottage news here.