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By Donald Koch, candidate for State Senate in Washington County
“If you build it they will come.” Some say, “we did, and they did.” Others say that’s not true. But we don’t know the truth, because there has been no official effort to determine whether the generous benefits offered to the homeless by the State of Vermont have contributed to the fact that Vermont’s percentage of homelessness is the second highest in the country. They say there is no evidence, but there is no evidence unless you choose to look for it, and we have chosen to be voluntarily ignorant. That’s not a good policy.
Let’s consider the causes of homelessness: physical and mental illness, and disability; divorce, or death of a partner; drug addiction; loss of employment; eviction from rental housing; choice of a lifestyle; and the list goes on. And let’s attribute to most of those who are homeless the desire to improve their conditions and obtain permanent shelter. Vermonters are generous and compassionate; we want to help. The question is the best way to help, regardless of a person’s most recent place of residence.
I submit that simply supplying the homeless with motel rooms or the equivalent, even with an end date, is not an effective way to help.
What does help is reaching out to each homeless person, determining the cause of that person’s homelessness, taking an inventory of the person’s assets and abilities, learning about the person’s background (including the person’s previous place of residence), and working out a plan for improvement leading to the ability to maintain permanent shelter. Is mental illness a problem? We have many programs for treatment. What about drug addiction? Vermont has some of the best programs for those who want to ditch drugs. Is a person fleeing domestic violence? Some legal assistance may work. The point is that the state, or its partners, must get to the root of a person’s homelessness and work with that person to help resolve that person’s problems. I’m sure that such a labor-intensive effort will be more successful and less expensive than just plunking people in motels.
And for those who seek no help but choose to live without permanent shelter, I say we should respect their choice and not force our “wiser” choices on them, so long as they do not occupy private property without permission or public property to the exclusion of the designated use of that property by others. Communities may, therefore, need to set aside some public lands, appropriately regulated, for a limited number of “campers.”
A program like the one outlined here needs to be governed by certain principles. Our intent is to help those who are able and willing to be helped. Here is one place where we should adhere to the old adage, “A hand up, not a handout.”
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Categories: Commentary
This whole country has a home less problem and Vermont is not going to solve all of these problems.
Democrats/progressives love to cite “root causes” for society’s problems. When we already have a native tally of 800,000 homeless and a nationwide shortage of affordable housing, and the current administration invited 10-15 million indigent migrants into the country, the root cause is kicking us in the head like the democrat mascot.
I appreciate the sentiment that people can assume we do not want to stay in our conditional housing situations. Outside of my circumstances (where and how I live now), I am healthy, working (unpaid from home), volunteering when and where I can, and still looking for a modest cabin off or nearly offgrid where my electrical and EMF sensitive electromagnetic body and can rest, and be productive. Still no answers, and none of the fixes above will fix it because my dis-ease with that world is ONLY seen as a health problem in the EU. Telecomms having gotten Congress to make it impossible to sue for health reasons ANY telecomm harm to one’s mental and physical health. Until that is settled, and the ubiquity of cell phones, antennae, cell towers and satellites are curtailed, nowhere to run or hide, coming or going. No place in the US except in NC is there a quiet zone for sensitives like myself.
I need, for housing, natural fibers only, wood that absorbs (not reflects or conducts) electricity, beneath trees which also absorb the radio and electrical waves, and rural. I cannot live where other people’s choices threaten my health and have chosen to put my health of body and mind first. I am getting used to living in a camper through the winter but camping out 365/24/7 is NOT a lifestyle I chose, but was forced upon me.
Ad nauseum, eh?
Until we have housing CHOICE i.e. yurts, small cabins located where landowners are not penalized for this sort of modest housing, and tiny houses, we will have homeless people. Most of the people choose to live outside simply have no other choice. I could NEVER live in an urban setting, an apartment, nor a duplex. Nor in an encampment of homeless people — its not safe for a single, elderly woman. You wouldn’t believe what I have to put up keeping myself safe.
No drug addict or leech here… just someone different who needs a place under the sun (when its not being dimmed that is).
Re: Vermont’s percentage of homelessness is the second highest in the country.
No proof?
It was reported on Vermont Public this morning that a recent audit of Vermont’s homelessness assistance program indicated that a significant portion of the assistance recipients were out-of-state folks.
No surprise there – ‘build it and they will come’. And they’ll vote for their benefactors too. No, they won’t vote for Vermont taxpayers. But they will vote for the thieving legislators who take our money and ‘redistribute it’.
“Wednesday, Sept. 25: Brave Little State’s most recent episode looks into whether Vermont’s motel housing program is a magnet for out-of-staters experiencing homelessness. Following the episode we’ll debrief with reporter Carly Berlin.”
What is affordable housing, something you’ll never see in Vermont with its over-taxed and over-regulated state with no job market……………. Yeah !!
Build it and they will come, we can’t build it, but they came, but for the handouts, so keep working and your officials will keep spending.
Don, might you consider completing the VDC Questionnaire like the one Terry Williams did earlier this week – you and all the other candidates. Voters should be given an opportunity to compare apples to apples and know the candidates stances on important issues like the homeless concerns. Check out VTHope.net/RUTCAND.html We’d be happy to add a page for each county. EVERYONE – ask your candidates to fill out the questionnaire – https://vermontdailychronicle.com/vdc-publishes-candidate-questionnaire/
I heard from one pastor today who felt the government should be getting out of the social concerns arena and leaving that to the churches where loving kindness can be poured in and prayed in. In Oregon there are churches that have 2-3 basic shelter units – room for a bed, and some possessions, but is a secure setting with a locking door that can be home until they can transition. Visit Community Supported Shelters https://www.communitysupportedshelters.org/ If churches had active soup kitchens, support groups, and other activities that made them busy all week long, the cost for managing the units like the Pods in Burlington could be greatly reduced. The cost of building materials for the Conestoga units was around 2K – maybe 2.5K with inflation.
I just submitted my answers about five minutes ago. The deadline for non-contested primary candidates was listed as October 1st.
Here’s a fun little experiment. Set out abundant food for squirrels. But only set it out for the squirrels in YOUR yard; no other squirrels are invited or allowed.
Count how many hours that policy works.
nothing like a good animal analogy to make the case with a conservative and piss off a liberal…
We set a bird feeder out every year and birds, squirrels, racoons skunks, possums, chipmunks and a few other critters show up for the feast. If you build it they will come. Remember, this was suppose to be a bird feeder.
Montpelier $60k hotel rooms, is this the Vermont way?
We’ve had a housing issue my entire real estate career, it’s known by everyone, Vermont is hard to find a place to live and it’s expensive to boot.
Montpelier in their infinite wisdom to sort out our affordability crisis has
– Offered the world $10,000 to move to Vermont.
– We have subsidized housing in Burlington if you earn $42k per year, which is well over the average income in our country and state.
– We have made it near impossible for a landlord to evict a tenant for nonpayment, destruction of property or dealing drugs.
– We have made building a modest home almost impossible due to regulations that have nothing to do with safety, but everything about stopping the average person.
– We have invited people from other nations to take our homes.
– We make it “legal” to live in Vermont as an illegal alien, again taking more homes. We create a zoning atmosphere that doesn’t allow boarding homes.
– Our affordable housing solutions are the ultimate grifting, paying more for modest housing than luxury slope side condominiums in the nations most desirable ski areas, funding the projects, subsidizing the projects, charging zero interest and completely forgiving some loans, subsiding the rents all with your “free” tax money!
– Just when you think it couldn’t possibly get worse…think again.
In the latest debacle, we have for several years been renting hotel rooms for those Vermonters in need, at $60,000 each! Per Year!
Now a Vermonter, regardless of how rich they are, might do this for a night. Perhaps a week at most, but certainly no more than that due to the epic waste of money this idea truly is.
In times past we Vermonter figured things out, being frugal and knowing money doesn’t grow on trees we found compatible solutions. Those who are in trouble are there for many reasons, some not of their own doing. Some have difficult living habits and make for challenging room mate situations. However, we are all God’s children, the poor will always be with us and our job is to show mercy and kindness.
In times past things were easier, we didn’t have an oppressive Montpelier structure on our lives and activities, here are some things done in times past.
a) An Rv in the back yard until they got on their feet.
b) Make your home a boarding house, retirement income, inexpensive place to live.
c) Put up a tent, teepee, yurt
d) Small cabin with outhouse
e) Move a mobile home on the property.
f) Convert a garage or basement to house someone
g) Townspeople might build a little subdivision
All of these are forbidden, in Montpelier’s Vermont. Only they have the power and money to do the correct thing. You will notice when it’s their idea or friends of theirs, they get free money, zoning changes and support from those connected to the Golden dome, if you’re connected it’s smooth sailing.
In times past we’d have solved this problem permanently and easily. But then in times past we weren’t trying to get rich off keeping people poor and in tenement housing.
Vermont has adopted big city solutions, and we’ve not got big city issues across our state. We’ve adopted socialist policies, from Russia via Bernie Sanders, from United Nations via “Build Back Better”, from non-profits like the VNRC and VPIRG…. all of whom carry water for the New World Order. We can take care of our own without their assistance, thank you anyway.
Vermont can do better; we can do much better.