Flooded Home: Help Mary Zentara and her Family

Dear Community,

I am Sylvie Desautels and a close friend of Mary Zentara from Montpelier, VT . I want to help Mary rebuild her home and life after the recent flood. The Winooski River rose and rose across Route 2 and into Mary Zentara’s home on July 10th. The water filled the basement and came up 8 inches on her first floor. The waters have receded and pumping and demolition have begun.

As a community member and human being Mary is cream of the crop. She takes refuge in savoring the natural world and for years immersed herself in shaping the forest preschool program at North Branch Nature Center. A single mom, having recently spent the past 3 years getting master’s degree in Early Childhood Education, specializing in trauma and completing her training in Somatic Experiencing, Mary is committing her life to supporting people in their healing process and is about to launch her new career at the end of the summer. The flooding of her home comes at a particularly tender time when she was to rent rooms out of her State Street house to a couple of roommates so she could establish herself in Burlington for her new job.

The work of demolition of the house at 189 State Street is well underway. What Mary is now looking at is the cost to get her house back to a livable space and expenses incurred during this time.

Support for Mary can come in many ways and this effort is one of them. The goal set will be a strong step to meeting Mary’s needs the helping her move on from this difficult time.

Deep gratitude and wishes for your safety, health and connection.