From the Desk of Paul Dragon, 2/27/26
At CVOEO, we believe in collaboration and transparency. That’s why every week Executive Director Paul Dragon shares a roundup of updates and initiatives to keep everyone, from our 300+ team members to the broader community we serve, informed and connected. Here’s what’s new this week!
Weekly Update:
Black History Month Spotlight
If you’ve used GPS today, you’ve relied on technology a Black woman, Dr. Gladys West, helped to create. Born in 1930 on a Virginia tobacco farm during segregation, West was told her future was in the fields. Instead, she walked five kilometers through woods and streams each day to attend school, determined to build a different life. She became valedictorian, earned a full scholarship, and by 1955 she had Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mathematics, one of the few Black women in America with advanced math credentials at the time.
In 1956, she was hired by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division as only the second Black woman in its history and one of just four Black employees. Despite discrimination, she continued her work. In the 1970s and ’80s, she programmed the powerful IBM 7030 Stretch, developing precise mathematical models of the Earth. Because the planet isn’t a perfect sphere, her algorithms accounted for gravitational, tidal, and atmospheric distortions. Her 1986 report laid critical groundwork for GPS, enabling the pinpoint accuracy we depend on today.
For 42 years at Dahlgren, and decades into retirement, few people knew her impact. Recognition finally came in 2018 when she was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame at the Pentagon, honored as a “hidden figure” whose work shaped the modern world.
After a stroke at 70, she refused to give up, enrolling at Virginia Tech and earning her PhD.
Every map you open, every flight guided safely home, every emergency vehicle that finds its way, her mathematics made it possible. Hidden for decades, her name now deserves to be remembered. Rest in power, Dr. West. Your legacy is eternal.
Notice 3SquaresVT and Work Requirements
Today is the last day for over 2,000 people who get 3SquaresVT benefits to report information about work, volunteering, or meeting an exemption. Without reporting this information to Economic Services, people will lose benefits on March 1st. You can find resources and FAQs (including how to report info) by clicking here.
If someone misses the deadline—which is today—but still qualifies, they can re-apply.
Manufactured Home Improvement and Repair Program reopens February 23
See the link to the story below on CVOEO. A survey of over 90 participants found that home repair awards lessened the burden of worrying about a safe home. A home repair recipient said, “My mobile home is set for another 40 years of life and will be cost efficient as I head into retirement and a fixed income.” A foundation recipient said, “We got into our home, something that wouldn’t have happened without this help.”
Financial Futures On-Demand Auditory Learning
CVOEO’s Financial Futures Programs is in the process of adding audio transcripts to all on-demand learning modules for auditory learners. Thank you to Sofija and Ilir for taking the initiative to make our classes more accessible. The first session, Setting Money Goals, can be found with all on-demand classes on the CVOEO website and are available for free: https://www.cvoeo.org/calendar/personal-finance-classes-35
CVOEO Head Start Family Service Credential
Head Start is once again offering the Family Service Credential to 9 participants from Head Start, Collaborative Partners, and other Vermont Head Start Association programs. The credential is a 54-hour program rooted in strategies to promote the core values of being strength-based, family-centered, reflective, supporting resiliency, and operating from an ecological perspective. Head Start is an approved Training site since 2017. Professionals with over 30 years of Head Start experience have said that this training was the most impactful training for their professional development.