This commentary is by Paul Quackenbush, a resident of Burlington.
Recently, as I exited the Ethan Allen Shopping Center on North Avenue in Burlington, I saw a woman on the sidewalk with three small children. She was trying to corral them away from the road as she held a sign that read “Every little bit helps.” I looked away. I told myself it was because I had a 10-year-old in the car, and I didn’t want him to see that situation or ask me difficult questions.
The next day, I learned that more than 800 people — including nearly 300 children and 250 individuals with acute medical needs — were evicted when their motel vouchers ran out. The evictions came after Gov. Phil Scott initially vetoed a bill that would have regionalized the motel voucher program and then refused pleas to extend the vouchers — or even to set up emergency shelters for those leaving the program. They also came at a time when federal food assistance is drying up. Unsurprisingly, the downscale of the motel voucher program has been correlated with a steep rise in unsheltered homelessness in Vermont.
I thought of that mother and her kids again recently while I kayaked along the Lake Champlain shoreline, past multimillion-dollar homes that sit vacant for most of the year. I thought, too, of the poverty I had seen in many parts of a state that prides itself on its progressive values, like in Essex County, where the median annual income is less than $59,000 and more than 1 in every 6 children lives below the federal poverty line.
My mind turned to what I could have done for that woman and her children.
Maybe I should have stopped and bought them food and seen what I could do to help. Maybe I should have stayed better informed about the end of the motel housing voucher program so I could have contacted my representatives and Gov. Scott ahead of time to express my concerns. Maybe I should have worked harder to elect leaders who wouldn’t turn a blind eye toward the most vulnerable. And maybe I should have donated my time and money to one of the wonderful local organizations serving those in need.
I still can.
One of the great things about living in the second least populous state is that each of us can have a relatively big impact. Many problems feel intractable right now, and it’s easy to point the finger at the powers and systems that be.
But it’s our state, and those of us with enough can do a little more to make sure other Vermonters have enough too. There’s more than enough to go around, and every little bit helps.
