A coalition of groups that work with Vermonters experiencing homelessness is continuing to press the state to extend the 84-day limit on emergency motel stays before hundreds of people lose their rooms Thursday.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the state’s general assistance housing program used vacant motel rooms to house Vermonters who would otherwise be homeless. About 700 people were forced out of the program July 1, while people with children, with disabilities, or who were fleeing dangerous or life-threatening conditions were allowed to remain through Thursday.
Mairead O’Reilly, a staff attorney for Vermont Legal Aid, said at a press conference Monday that her office had heard from “countless” clients who were terrified about losing their rooms in the coming days. The pandemic is reaching record high case averages in the state, and many clients have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for complications from Covid-19.
About 543 households are slated to lose their rooms this week, O’Reilly said. “This impending crisis and the suffering and trauma it will bring to hundreds of our people is avoidable,” she said.
Vermont Legal Aid and several other organizations last week sent a letter to Sean Brown, commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, urging him to extend the program. Advocates said Monday that Brown had not yet responded.
Geoffrey Pippenger, a spokesperson for the department, said last week that the state had no plans to extend the program. With a busy tourist season approaching, he said, motel rooms would no longer be available for those using vouchers.
Advocates pushed back on the capacity issue Monday. Rooms are currently available in Washington County, said Rick DeAngelis, executive director of Good Samaritan Haven in Barre. The state has committed to paying the market rate for rooms, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has committed to pay for 100% of the program until the new year.
“Why not?” DeAngelis asked. “In this period of uncertainty and crisis, why wouldn’t you use that funding to provide some more protection?”
Facing questions from the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Committee on Friday, Brown said that if motel operators chose to rent to tourists instead of the state, his hands were tied. “We cannot control the decisions of private businesses,” Brown said. He estimated that capacity would decline from about 900 rooms to about 650 in the coming weeks.
Kara Casey, co-chair of the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness, said a short-term reprieve could make a difference for many clients, even if motel capacity declines in the coming weeks.
“I think two or three weeks, for someone that is experiencing homelessness and looking for housing, is two or three weeks,” she said.
Ken Russell, executive director of Another Way in Montpelier, said many leaving the motel program have no other plans than to sleep outside. His team is handing out supplies such as camping gear, food and hand warmers.
“This feels like pulling the rug out from underneath the motel system that, as imperfect as it is, at least gets people out of the cold,” Russell said.
Several advocates said Monday that plans to expand shelter space and affordable housing units were underway but would not be ready in time to house people ejected from the program this week. For example, three new projects in Washington County could provide 60 shelter beds, DeAngelis said, but two of those projects won’t open until November, and the largest is slated to open next spring.
If the state declines to extend the program, participants will be forced outdoors or into congregate housing during the highest infection rates of the pandemic and with winter weather approaching, said Martin Hahn, executive director of the Coalition to End Homelessness.
“This is a shock to the conscience,” Hahn said. Extending the program “is in the best interest of the public at large, the staff who work at emergency shelters, health service providers and, most importantly, the motel guests who have no place to sleep, eat or bathe starting this Thursday evening.”
