By Guy Page
The State of Vermont’s pandemic-era emergency housing funding will end May 31 for some recipients, and June 30 for the rest of them.
However, a vocal advocate for emergency housing and 2022 Democratic candidate for governor hopes to change lawmakers’ minds at 12:30 today. She, and supportive lawmakers, want $20 million reinserted into the state budget for emergency housing including homeless hotels, expanding the shelters, and other options.
Many residents now staying in ‘homeless hotels’ around the state received a letter May 2 telling them that as of the end of this month, the funding will end and they will need to seek other housing. The letter promises counseling and assistance. The May 2 letter was sent to people who are not disabled, living under threat of domestic abuse, parents of young children, or other categories for whom emergency housing recipients have until the end of June to stay in the ‘homeless hotels.’
But as of July 1, they need to be out, too – a situation housing advocate Brenda Siegel hopes to avert today in a pitch to lawmakers grappling with the 2023-2024 state budget. Her plea for an extension to the emergency housing benefits will be made to the House/Senate conference committee seeking to agree on a common budget figure. And depending on the size of that figure, a veto by Gov. Phil Scott is a possibility.
Siegel is hoping the lawmakers will agree to continue at least some of the emergency funding. She will argue – as she has often in the past – that the State of Vermont will incur harm to the individuals and community if it stops the emergency housing subsidies.
People with substance abuse problems may land on their drug dealer’s couch, she said recently. Women with children seeking housing to escape abuse may have no alternative but to return to their abusers, she warned.
Scott has said in recent weeks that enough is enough, the pandemic is over and the State can’t afford to drain other housing funds to continue pandemic-level emergency housing. In January, he noted that the State had spent $400 million (mostly federal funds) on emergency housing through the pandemic.
The City of Montpelier has planned a press conference for this afternoon asking the State to continue emergency funding. Montpelier, which has passed vagrant-friendly ordinances and whose House representative wants to have a 24-hour public bathroom installed on state property in Montpelier, has a sizeable and highly visible homeless population.
Categories: Housing
What’s the “emergency” now, Brenda? How about I just personally write you a check from my petty cash account? I’m used to getting fleeced in Vermont.
OR…………. How about you tell them to them get: JOBS?
HOW ABOUT WE FIND OUT WHERE THESE PEOPLE ARE ORIGINALLY FROM (MOST AREN’T FROM VERMONT), SEND THEM BACK TO THEIR HOME STATE AND LET THEM TAKE CARE OF THEM. TEN TO FIFTEEN YEARS AGO THE STATE OF VERMONT STARTED ADVERTISING IN NEW YORK AND MASSACHUSETTS NEWSPAPERS TO GET THESE TWO STATES POOR TO MOVE TO VERMONT. TELLING THEM THEY WOULD PROVIDE MORE BENEFITS THAN EITHER NEW YORK OR MASSACHUSETTS. THEY SUCCEEDED. WE HAVE MORE NON PROFITS IN BARRE CITY THEN THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO NEED THEIR SERVICES. PAY ATTENTION FOLKS, IT’S ONLY GONNA GET WORSE…
How about about the state invest those funds into creating living spaces for the people who need them. The state could buy a hotel and charge tenants a percentage of their earnings. Even though some of the homeless are taking advantage of the situation, many are people with jobs who can’t afford an apartment due to the lack of affordable rentals and low wages. The old Hetty Green motel in Bellows Falls is a prime example of what can be done. They took a decrepit old building and turned it into several small efficiency apartments.
ALL THE CITY PARKS IN MONTPELIER, BERLIN, BARRE CITY AND BARRE TOWN ARE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING READY TO HOUSE ALL THE HOMELESS THAT ARE ALREADY HERE AND ALL THE ILLEGAL ALIENS THAT WILL BE CROSSING OUR NORTHERN BORDER LATER THIS WEEK WHO WILL BE HOMELESS AS WELL. PREPARE FOR A BIG SPIKE IN CRIME. GOD BLESS US ALL…
The thousands of ‘Pretend State Residents,’ who were attracted to Vermont last fall because of the freebies and largess offered by our brain dead legislators, will soon be relocating from the ‘Homeless Hotels’ throughout the state. They are already out looking for their next campsite. Having already experienced numerous people wandering through my back yard, and one vehicle burglary, I can only caution anyone with a secluded lot, an outbuilding, a camper trailer, a box truck, or your kids’ tree house, to be on the lookout for uninvited guests taking up residence on your property.
Enough is enough…
Considering it’s Spring now, let the tent cities be erected in earnest! Soon, they’ll be many more to join in the open air living of Vermont. Thunder Road has bathrooms, why not open the infield and parking lots for homeless camping enjoyment? The Burlington Leahy Airport is a great place to shelter a few hundred or so. Leahy’s Echo Center has bathrooms and plenty of water tanks for bathing. Shelburne Museum and Shelburne Farms has lots of space and ammenities. Eminent domain bureaucrats! Take it all in the name of equity, diversity, and endless opportunity. Why wait?