WATERBURY, Vt. — Lugene Pitman is still using paint scrapers for spatulas, but her kitchen cabinets are up and the refrigerator is coming soon.

The long road to recovery from Tropical Storm Irene continues throughout much of Vermont, but the local effort in Waterbury got a big boost Monday.

The Stiller Family Foundation, created by the family that started Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, announced it will make a $250,000 matching grant to help continue making repairs to homes severely damaged when the storm triggered flooding in August.

The money will go to Rebuild Waterbury, an offshoot of a business development group called Revitalizing Waterbury, which has been spearheading recovery efforts. The donation brings the total raised to date to about $400,000, nearly half way to the goal of $918,000.

On Monday, local leaders joined construction crews to tour properties, including Pitman’s, where work continues. Pitman’s home was flooded above the first-floor doorknobs when nearby Thatcher Brook overflowed its banks.

More than 700 hours of volunteer labor later, and things are improving at Pitman’s home.

Walls ripped from their studs have been replaced and painted in bright colors.

More than 60 families have approached Rebuild Waterbury for help with repairs to their homes, and the work is expected to continue into the spring of 2013, officials said.

 

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