BRATTLEBORO — In a town that shelters one of every 10 Vermonters who use state motel vouchers, municipal leaders are launching an Emergency Housing Response Team to address the coming end of the program.
“There are no great answers here, and we don’t truly know what to expect,” Town Manager John Potter told the local selectboard Tuesday night. “But we thought the only way we could start to get a handle on it is by developing communications.”
The state Agency of Human Services has tapped federal Covid-19 money the past three and a half years to shelter 1,800 households statewide, including some 220 adults and 50 children now staying at seven Brattleboro motels.
With government funding ending, 80 Brattleboro residents who aren’t in a household with a member in school or age 60 or older, pregnant, or a victim of domestic violence or a natural disaster will lose their vouchers June 1.
Another 140 to 190 Brattleboro residents, including some 50 children, are set to exit the program July 1, depending on what the state decides for future eligibility requirements.
“We do not yet know what the level of impact will be on the community,” Potter wrote in a memorandum to the selectboard.
As a result, the town is gathering a response team of representatives from local and state government, the Groundworks Collaborative that targets hunger and homelessness, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, Health Care & Rehabilitation Services, the Windham Regional Commission, Downtown Brattleboro Alliance and area faith leaders — the latter who are organizing a drive for tents and camping supplies.
“Additional stakeholders are being identified,” Potter said in his memo, “and suggestions would be appreciated.”
The response team comes a month after the Groundworks Collaborative closed its 30-bed Morningside House shelter after a social worker was murdered, allegedly by a client.
“Morningside House is closed indefinitely while we figure out next steps,” its operators said in a written statement.
Groundworks is housing Morningside residents in motels that are set to stop receiving vouchers. After pausing all programs in April, the agency is working to reopen its South Main Street shelter to eventually offer 34 beds, it said in its statement.
Municipal leaders anticipate some people might move from motels to camp in downtown parks and other public property.
“One significant concern is the possibility of expanded tent encampments which can lead to challenging sanitary, public health, public safety, and aesthetic concerns with garbage and untreated waste,” Potter said in his memo.
In response, the town will take “a non-involvement approach that avoids criminalizing the status of people experiencing homelessness,” the memo continued.
“The general sense here is there has been guidance through the courts,” Potter told the selectboard. “We need to be very careful that we are compliant with any legal requirements as this moves forward.”