Housing Case Manager Denise Goodwin estimates that 100 Vermonters living in Washington County motels will become homeless July 1. In a best-case scenario, 10 of them will be able to find apartments of their own.
The rest will end up wherever they can find shelter, living with family or friends, in the few remaining open shelter beds and on the streets.
“It moves me to tears sometimes,” said Goodwin, who works for the Good Samaritan Haven in Barre. “Where do we put them?”
It has become an increasingly pressing question for housing providers and advocates around the state. Even in less populous areas of Vermont, they report there are simply not enough homes for people who need them.
As of July 1, about 700 people — roughly a third of the 2,100 adults and 370 kids living in motels — could lose their eligibility and be forced to find new housing.
On June 1, eligibility requirements for Vermonters who are newly homeless and seeking temporary housing in motels became more restrictive. Single adults without a disability will no longer be able to live in state-funded motel rooms. Those in the motels who are more vulnerable — families with kids, pregnant women, those with disabilities and people older than 60, among others — will receive 84 more days starting July 1.
But restricting access is the first step in the state’s transition away from its pandemic housing program of paying for motels to house the state’s homeless population.
Among housing providers, “there’s a lot of strategizing around ‘what can we do?’” to help people find a place to live,” said Jessica Radbord, an attorney for Vermont Legal Aid. She predicted those efforts will only go so far. Even with federal stimulus funds available, “there’s going to be a lot of people who end up on the streets,” Radbord said.
‘Stunning’ demand
Demand for all types of housing has skyrocketed since the pandemic.
The Champlain Housing Trust has received more than 940 applications for about 50 vacant affordable housing units in the past four months, CEO Michael Monte said. That’s more than double the pre-pandemic demand.
He called it “a stunning rate, even for what we see typically,” Monte said.
Even in Lamoille County, there’s a “0% vacancy rate,” said John Boyer, a youth case manager for the Lamoille Family Center in Morrisville. “The local housing organization is being stretched to their capacity,” he said, referring to Capstone Community Action.
Those leaving the motel July 1 will receive a payment of $2,500, allocated from federal stimulus funds, to help them find housing.
That simply doesn’t help when there are no units available, Goodwin said. Instead, she’s trying to make sure motel residents in Washington County have access to other services — a primary care doctor, the medications they need, food stamps, Narcan and camping equipment.
The apartments that are available are often too expensive over the long term, Goodwin said. Those living in the motels want to pay between $700 and $800 a month, but rent for a one-bedroom or a studio in central Vermont almost never runs less than $1,100, she said. Demand is high enough that landlords will rarely take a chance on someone with spotty rental history.
“They’re frustrated. They’re scared. They’ve had this safety net for over a year,” she said of the motel residents. “There’s really nowhere for them to go.”
Building more
Pre-pandemic, about 500 people might rely on motels for a room during the winter. When Covid-19 hit, demand surged. Some people lost their jobs. Others could no longer couch-surf or live with family members due to the need to social distance.
But the motel program, which has been overwhelmingly funded with federal dollars, has been pricey — around $50 million a year.
In April, a working group came up with a proposal to scale down the program. After the July 1 deadline, all but the most vulnerable — those with kids and those with severe disabilities — will lose their eligibility Sept. 22.
Reliance on the motels was unsustainable, both for the state and for residents, said Tricia Tyo, deputy commissioner of the economic services division for the Department for Children and Families. She called the reduction “a necessary step,” but said the state would still be offering more services and motel rooms “than what we were ever doing before.”
Tyo said she didn’t know how many people would end up on the street in July but acknowledged some might be camping for the summer. “The state is obviously very concerned about anyone experiencing homelessness,” she said.
The state has allocated millions of American Rescue Plan dollars to build affordable housing to help those experiencing homelessness. But those units won’t be available until well after July 1.
Champlain Housing Trust will build 172 apartments in Chittenden and Franklin counties within 12 months, Monte said. The organization is seeking to renovate 56 apartments and convert two motels into permanent affordable housing. The earliest some homes may be available is this fall.
“We’re just going as quickly as we can,” Monte said.
The Good Samaritan Haven will be opening up a handful of new shelter beds — but most won’t be available by July, Executive Director Rick DeAngelis said.
Come July, DeAngelis’ organization will have outreach workers ready to deliver supplies to the homeless camps: water, pillows, shovels, flashlights, resource pamphlets and Narcan.
By providing the bare necessities, “hopefully by what we’re doing we can save a life or decrease any danger [that people pose] to themselves or others,” Goodwin said.
In the meantime, she’ll keep apartment-searching — and would take any help she could get from the public.
“I welcome any contact from anyone,” she said. Goodwin can be reached at 802-479-2294 or info@goodsamaritanhaven.org.
