Helping Dads See Their Value: Vermont Fatherhood
WEC Community Fund Supports Barre-Based Nonprofit that Strengthens Families
I knew what I’d done in the past was good for dads. This has been next-level. I’m trying to build a model in Barre that will be effective in other places. –Josh Miller
“What I’ve learned in my years working with parents is, guys just don’t realize how important they are to their kids,” said Josh Miller, director and cofounder of Vermont Fatherhood in Barre. In both real life and fiction, the pain of growing up with an absent or unavailable father is a frequent theme in stories people tell. This summer’s biggest movie blockbuster, The Odyssey, is the 3,000-year-old tale of one of popular culture’s original absentee fathers. And yet, many fathers need help seeing that they matter — and how positive it is for children to grow up with healthy fathers and father-figures in their lives.
Vermont Fatherhood is just over a year old. A grant from Washington Electric Co-op’s Community fund, which is funded through voluntary donations of capital credits from Co-op members, provided important early financial support, as well as a vote of community confidence. Last year, the Community Fund distributed grants to 70 small nonprofits working in WEC’s service area.
Miller, himself a father of four, lives in Berlin. He has worked for 20 years to strengthen families and fathers, including helping incarcerated fathers re-entering the community and convening fatherhood summits. Most recently, he was director of the Family Room in Burlington, a parent-child center with numerous programs supporting healthy families in a culturally rich and economically varied community. In May 2025, he hung the bright yellow Vermont Fatherhood sign above Wobby Jewelers on Main Street. “I knew what I’d done in the past was good for dads. This has been next-level,” he said. “I’m trying to build a model in Barre that will be effective in other places. So far, so good, one year in.”
Miller offers low-barrier, supportive programs: most require no registration, all are free. These include a drop-in dads group on Tuesday evenings with dinner and childcare; drop-in mornings every weekday for coffee and conversation; playgroups for dads with children under three; and courses for new dads. He offers a safe and fun place for fathers involved in Vermont’s justice system to have supervised visits with their children. Building community among fathers — with healthy norms within that community — is the key.
Fathers and father-figures come to Vermont Fatherhood for different reasons: some are required to as a condition of parole or restorative justice. Some are working to be a different kind of father than the one they did, or didn’t, grow up with. Some are seeking community, or a place where it feels ok to ask questions. Some are intrigued by the sign. Any dad or near-dad willing to participate is welcome, Miller said.
Critically, Miller has a system-wide view of fatherhood. He advises organizations and state agencies that families already engage with — from the Department of Children and Families to parent-child centers and other early childhood education programs — how to be more inclusive of fathers. “It’s a shift,” he explained. “Creating space where dads feel welcomed. Working with state agencies to support the dad. Not, ‘how can this dad prove he’s a good enough dad.’”
For now, Miller is Vermont Fatherhood’s only employee. He said he’s always had to add fatherhood programming to a portfolio of other programs and is happy to focus on working directly with fathers and building father outreach into systems. For example, Vermont offers home visiting services for families with young children that meet eligibility requirements. In Central Vermont, these are facilitated through Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice. Miller rides along on some visits, introduces himself to fathers, and recruits them to get involved with Vermont Fatherhood. It’s all about meeting dads where they are: Miller said he’s even driven down Main Street and, spotting a dad pushing a stroller, he pulled a U-turn and jumped out to introduce himself.
If Vermont Fatherhood grows, it will take the right people, and it will take funding, Miller said. The nonprofit launched with a $5,000 donation and a $15,000 loan from Community Capital of Vermont, followed by a grant for $60,000 from the Vermont Early Childhood Fund. Since then, Miller has worked to reach donors and foundations mainly in Washington County, and held a successful fundraiser at the Barre Social Club. For a new, effective, and ambitious nonprofit in its first year, support from Washington Electric Co-op’s Community Fund had a substantial impact.
The community is supportive of fatherhood programming in Barre, Miller emphasized, and WEC’s commitment to funding nonprofits that serve Central Vermont is part of that. “There are a lot of people who want to support good stuff in this area,” Miller said. “The return on investment on this work is great. I’ve had guys come out of prison, and they’ve got jobs, they see their kids, they’re staying out of trouble, they’re staying sober. I have the nimbleness to meet guys at their house, on the basketball court, help them change their tires, shop with their kids.”
Building a healthier male culture requires building a community that believes dads really matter to their families, Miller continued. “Guys tell themselves a story, and it isn’t the truth. When you tell them the truth and hold them accountable, lives change.”
Access Services, Learn More, or Support Vermont Fatherhood:
Visit office: 124 North Main Street, Suite 3, Barre, 05641
Visit website: VermontFatherhood.org
Email: josh@vermontfatherhood.org
Phone: (802) 380-4752
Learn More and Support WEC Community Fund:
Visit website: wec.coop/Community-Fund
Call WEC office: 802-223-5245