Five former and current state legislators who have worked on housing are calling on Gov. Phil Scott to declare a state of emergency to address Vermont's homelessness crisis. They say the crisis demands leadership and a coordinated approach at the highest level.
"Vermont's homelessness crisis is an ongoing emergency just as was the flooding that hit Vermont in 2023 and 2024," said former state Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex-Orleans, at a Dec. 23 press conference in South Burlington.
Former state Sens. Will Hunter and Jim Leddy, D-Windsor and D-Chittenden, respectively, joined current state Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden, and current State Rep. Kate Logan, P/D-Burlington, in highlighting the humanitarian and economic impact of the increasing number of Vermonters experiencing homelessness.
Referencing the deaths of three unsheltered Vermonters in the past few months, Vyhovsky said, "The governor needs to act immediately before one more person dies."
"The plight of homeless Vermonters - adults, children, and the elderly - has been overshadowed by complaints about high property taxes and economic development," said Illuzzi. "However, not addressing homelessness costs the state and local communities millions of dollars."
Vyhovsky said Scott's inaction leaves municipalities to "bear the brunt of the cost and resources" to keep the most vulnerable Vermonters alive.
"It is unconscionable to continue to do nothing," she said.
Homelessness in Vermont increasing
According to the 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, released on Dec. 27 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 3,458 Vermonters are experiencing homelessness, a 4.9% increase from 2023.
While Vermont has one of the lowest percentages of unsheltered homelessness in the country - 5% in 2024 - the percentage has increased from 4.2% in 2023. HUD defines unsheltered homelessness as "living in situations not considered habitable for humans."
In Vermont, 53 out of every 10,000 Vermonters experience homelessness. Only New York, Hawaii, and Oregon have higher rates.
The rate of homelessness is an essential measure for policymakers and advocates as it shows the severity of the problem relative to the size of a community or state. High rates of homelessness occur in states with low vacancy rates and high housing costs, which are especially challenging for people with low incomes and/or physical and mental health concerns.
Vermont has consistently had some of the lowest home vacancy rates in the country: 0.3% for owner-occupied homes and 3.5% for rental properties in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) considers a "healthy" vacancy rate to be 5%, the nationally accepted standard.
Housing affordability continues to be a challenge in the state. According to VHFA's most recent Vermont Housing Needs Assessment, released in June 2024, the median sales price of primary homes in 2023 was $325,000, a 5% increase from 2022. According to the Zillow Rentals website, the median rent for all bedrooms and property types in the state was $2,050 as of Dec. 27.
VHFA finds that 25% of Vermont renters are "severely cost-burdened," paying more than half of their income for housing. "These renters are at high risk of housing instability, which can lead to frequent moves, eviction, and even homelessness," reports VHFA.
While Vermont provides temporary emergency shelter in motels through the General Assistance Emergency Housing Program, cost-cutting measures in the 2024 Legislative session reduced the number of available rooms and restricted program eligibility to those deemed "most vulnerable": children, those experiencing domestic violence, people over age 65, those who are pregnant, and those with disabilities.
However, there's no guarantee that eligible Vermonters will get rooms. According to the program website, as of Dec. 27, 11 of the 12 Agency of Human Service districts in the state had either no or "extremely limited" availability in participating motels.
In the Brattleboro district, 380 Vermonters - 304 adults and 76 children - are sheltering in area motels through the program. Only the Burlington district shelters more Vermonters in motels.
Acting locally
Cristina Shay-Onye, a Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting member and member of the RTM Finance Committee, is addressing the crisis on the streets of Brattleboro.
In the days leading up to Christmas, she raised $750 through donations and the sale of homemade toys on Main Street in Brattleboro to pay for local motel rooms for unsheltered people.
"We drove around, looking for panhandlers at Hannaford [or] anywhere people were outside, and offered them rides to hotels," she said.
Shay-Onye is co-founder of the Vermont Village School, a mutual aid organization and school based in Brattleboro. The organization has established an emergency shelter fund to help pay for motel rooms for unsheltered people in the area. Donations can be made through the organization's website, vermontvillageschool.org/donate.
"Nothing like this exists in the Brattleboro area to keep people off the streets in these deadly temperatures," she said.
Noting that Groundworks Collaborative in Brattleboro recently added 12 beds to its 34-bed overnight shelter to address the increased demand, Shay-Onye says many people nonetheless still live in tents in the area.
She wants the town to respond to what she calls a "humanitarian crisis" by opening the Gibson-Aiken Center or the Municipal Center for additional emergency overnight shelter.
"Please," she wrote on Dec. 22 in an email to Brattleboro Selectboard chair Daniel Quipp, Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland, and Carol Lolatte, director of Brattleboro Recreation and Parks. "It's an all-hands-on-deck situation, and there would be so much support for an emergency opening of town property tonight."
Quipp supports the idea of an emergency shelter in town.
"Given the current numbers of unsheltered individuals in our community and the limitations of both of the local shelters and the state emergency housing program, we can expect there to be significant numbers of people in grave danger throughout the coming months," he wrote to Selectboard members, local legislators, town officials, and local housing providers on Dec. 22.
Quipp said that while the town doesn't have the capacity to create and support an additional shelter, it does have space and an emergency management infrastructure, which could be leveraged for a volunteer-led effort to run a shelter.
He offered to meet with others on this topic and volunteer at a shelter when it is established.
"I know that we are all doing our best to meet our community's needs and that this is one of our most difficult challenges," he wrote.
'All kinds of things can spring up'
Repurposing government office building space for emergency shelter is one of five "immediate action steps" proposed by Illuzzi and his fellow advocates. They propose that Vermont-based nonprofits, including existing regional community action agencies, could manage this supportive transitional housing.
Hunter believes that declaring an emergency will engage all levels of government, local nonprofits, and community members to address homelessness in Vermont.
Citing efforts to rebuild roads and provide temporary shelter for people affected by recent floods in the state, Hunter told The Commons, "If there's leadership and a call to action from a charismatic, popular governor, then there'll be all kinds of things that can spring up."
This News item by Ellen Pratt was written for The Commons.