Homeless advocate charged with recruiting teens to make and sell drugs

By Guy Page

Lisa Kinkade, the Brattleboro homeless advocate known who was praised last year for helping create a downtown drop-in center for homeless people, has been arrested following a drug raid in which police say a large amount of crack cocaine and cash was seized.

Kincade, 46, was one of three people arrested Sept. 4 when Brattleboro police assisted the Vermont Drug Task Force in executing a search warrant at an apartment at 69 Elliott Street at about 9:15 AM, according to a Brattleboro Police Dept. statement. She pleaded innocent Tuesday to trafficking, manufacturing and sale of crack cocaine and fentanyl, and conspiracy to sell drugs.

In her arraignment Tuesday, Judge John Treadwell set bail at  $50,000 bail for Kinkade, saying she allegedly recruited “young people from Connecticut to come to Vermont to manufacture and distribute regulated drugs in this community,” according to a Brattleboro Reformer report.

The other two people arrested were 18-year-olds from Connecticut: Darrius Tatum of Darien, and Xavier Burgos of Meriden. 

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The arrests mark a striking turn for Kinkade, who received favorable attention for her work with Brattleboro’s homeless population and her role at 69A, a community gathering and drop-in space located at the same Elliott Street address.

In July 2025, Jonathan Elwell wrote a lengthy profile of 69A in the Rake describing Kinkade, identified in the article as Lisa Marie, as one of “two remarkable community members” whose work and vision helped build the center.

The article said she previously helped operate the temporary “Pop-Drop” at the Brattleboro Transportation Center after the Groundworks shelter closed following the death of Leah Rosin-Pritchard, who died when axed to death by a mentally ill resident of the town’s homeless shelter.

After that program ended, Kinkade reportedly walked around Brattleboro distributing camping equipment, grocery and gas cards and other supplies to people in need.

She later joined Katie Bachler at 69A. Beginning in May 2025, the space operated weekday drop-in hours offering free food, clothing and other supplies. By July, following removals from the state’s motel housing program, Kinkade estimated about 115 people were visiting each day, about two-thirds of them homeless.

“People really don’t understand how scary it is to be homeless,” Kinkade said in the 2025 article. “This is like a mini home. People can come sleep on the couch and know they are safe.”

The operation also attracted scrutiny. The same article reported that Bachler received a call from town officials after complaints that 69A was operating as a safe injection site. The article did not establish that such a site was being operated there, and Kinkade criticized what she viewed as hostility toward homeless people.

More than a year later, the address is now connected to a Vermont Drug Task Force investigation and the arrests and arraignment.

Police said the Sept. 4 search resulted in the seizure of a “large amount” of crack cocaine and cash and the arrests of Kinkade and the two Connecticut teenagers.

Kinkade received strong support at her arraignment, where several community members and social service workers appeared on her behalf, the Reformer reports. Public defender Mimi Brill said Kinkade has long helped Brattleboro’s homeless population with food, clothing and shelter and has even helped the Public Defender’s Office locate people it was trying to reach. Brill said Kinkade has no previous arrests or convictions and has deep ties to Vermont, having lived in the Brattleboro area for 46 years, attended school and college in the state, and maintained family connections here.