Burlington Standard

Burlington, Vt. – On June 9, Mayor Weinberger made the following statement:  

“On Monday, the City of Burlington and numerous regional housing and service partners laid out a coordinated strategy to provide temporary shelter, permanent housing, and robust wraparound services appropriate to the needs of Vermonters in our region who will be exited from motels this year.

Yesterday, the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance (CCHA) reviewed and unanimously endorsed a key aspect of this strategy to prioritize and connect vulnerable households currently in motels to transitional or permanent housing no later than February 2024 by a vote of 16-0.  

This is an extraordinary commitment by the organizations working in the trenches day in and day out to end homelessness, and who have together housed over 200 households over the last year through our Coordinated Entry System. I hope the confidence of every major housing agency and organization that serves people experiencing homelessness in Chittenden County helps the State overcome any hesitation about the viability of this proposal.  

It would be outrageous for the State to plunge ahead with its plan to evict high-needs households including young children, senior citizens, and people receiving home-health services from motels on July 28 to live unsheltered or in congregate facilities when the CCHA stands ready, committed, and able to implement this far more humane alternative plan for approximately the same investment of State emergency housing dollars.”

The Co-Chairs of the CCHA Sarah Russell and Will Towne issued this statement, following yesterday’s Steering Committee meeting:  

“The Chittenden County Homeless Alliance is a coalition of individuals, organizations, government entities, and people with lived experience of homelessness and/or housing insecurity who support our vision of a safe, decent, affordable, stable home for every person and family in Chittenden County. Our mission is to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring in Chittenden County. During our Steering Committee meeting last night, the Alliance voted to unanimously endorse a proposal that advocates for the extension of motel stays for families with children and vulnerable households while we work to enable their transition from the motel program to permanent, sustainable housing. We implore the Governor, AHS Administration, and our legislative body to ensure these households do not go unsheltered while our community implements an innovative, coordinated, and rapid plan to end the pandemic-era emergency motel program. We recognize the motel program is not ideal nor sustainable and we, as a collective Committee of stakeholders, advocate for the State to work in partnership with our community for permanent solutions to homelessness.”

Original source can be found here.