By Michael Bielawski
A report summarizing Vermont’s homeless trends blames “our country’s long history of racist and exploitative laws and policies” when discussing the state’s homeless composition.
The 2024 Point-in-Time Count has come out with new nationwide data on homelessness. This part summarizes the scope of homelessness in Vermont.
“To give some perspective on how large of a problem this is, Vermont’s shelter providers can shelter approximately 550 households. To make up the majority of the gap, the State has used its General Assistance Emergency Housing program to shelter people in hotels and motels, but this program continues to face rollbacks,” it states.
It notes that black Vermonters are 5.6 times more likely to be homeless than whites and concludes that American racism is a major driver of the problem.
“And, because of our country’s long history of racist and exploitative laws and policies, many of which continue today, Black Vermonters are unhoused at a staggering rate compared to white Vermonters,” it states.
Another section adds, “From slavery through modern racist and exploitative policies that include regressive taxation, redlining, and the war on drugs, America has systematically exploited and denied the basic human rights of Black people.”
Authors include the Housing & Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance, and the Vermont Balance of State Continuum of Care. These organizations are not state agencies, but are not-for-profit advocacy organizations.
Other concerning stats include, “3,458 – Number of unhoused people, representing an over 300% increase over pre-COVID levels (1,110 unhoused people in 2020).”
Another is, “166 – Number of people did not have access to emergency shelter, representing an over 21 percent increase over 2023 (137 unsheltered people in 2023).”
Hotel program a “failure”?
Republican Governor Phil Scott had some harsh analysis of the program in hindsight. He explained that once in the hotels, participants weren’t required to let other folks in including those trying to help them get jobs, get permanent housing, avoid drugs, and other help.
Scott says that an interim temporary shelter program – costing at least $3 million over a few months – is at least enabling them to engage with the participants.
The voucher program has not been a bargain for taxpayers. Reports indicate that some rooms were costing taxpayers about $130 per night, but the cost varies.
“Relentlessly challenging” year
According to a recent update by the Good Samaritan Haven homeless shelter in Barre, this has been a “relentlessly challenging” year.
“We’ve felt the effects of the end of the state motel program, another flood, rising numbers of unsheltered individuals, and an extreme shortage of affordable housing,” they write in the presser which came out on Monday. Operating a shelter network is relentlessly challenging. The emotional toll on our staff and guests is real,” their message states.
Turning folks away is always challenging. It states, “I hear the frustration in [Intake & Data Specialist Denise Goodwin’s] voice when she must tell a desperate person on the other end of the phone that there are no beds available in our shelters.”
Vermont’s hotel housing program has been wrapping up, the state is still investing $70 million this year. The program entails public money paid to the hotels to house those who would otherwise be homeless.
The message offers some encouragement.
“It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged, but as one Good Sam supporter shared, ‘With so much suffering in the world, I am countering my feelings of helplessness by offering tangible support to a tragedy closest to home,'” it states.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle