WATERBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – With temperatures dropping, the state is puzzling over how to set up shelters aimed at serving homeless families with kids.
The state plans to set up shelters in Montpelier, Waterbury and Williston. And they’re also looking to have one in Rutland.
The state owns the Waterbury armory which was recently used as a FEMA recovery center. It’s one of several facilities the state hopes to use to house families following the unwinding of the hotel-motel program.
It’s been about a month since new rules the governor and Democratic lawmakers agreed to went into effect, placing caps on how many hotel rooms the state will pay for.
Some families lost their housing due to the rule change. And as snow starts to turn the Green Mountains white, the Agency of Human Services announced they are setting up three shelters to serve families with kids.
“Kids come first, they are the most vulnerable, they’re caught in the middle of this situation and we want to do everything we can to help them,” said Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont.
Unlike the sparsely attended congregate shelters set up in March, the governor said families will have private space in conference rooms and shared kitchens.
The state wants to have the shelters up and running by Nov. 1 but they are struggling to find providers in Williston, Montpelier and Rutland.
“We the providers are on the front lines working frantically to keep people from dying,” said Julie Bond of the Good Samaritan Haven.
At a news briefing this week, advocates and service providers decried Vermonters with acute medical and mental health conditions losing their hotel rooms. Homeless service providers from across the state said they are stretched thin and unable to take on new cases. They also said people with disabilities and severe medical conditions are left sleeping in tents.
“We have medically vulnerable people with chronic diseases that have been sleeping outside for many nights now and are still waiting for a shelter bed to open up,” said Libby Bennett, the executive director of Groundworks Collaborative.
There are also challenges getting the shelters off the ground.
A plan to turn the local armory in Waterbury into a shelter hit a snag. A request to change local zoning is tied up in the court and the town manager said he just heard about the new shelter plan through the press this week.
But still, there’s disagreement about the scope of the problem. Advocates said they are overwhelmed with hundreds who have left hotels and are asking for help. But the Department for Children and Families said they are in contact with families including 21 kids, and add when people leave the hotels keeping in touch can be a problem.
“They may be with family members. We don’t believe they are out on the street but we will find out,” Scott said.
Expanded hotel eligibility under so-called cold weather rules will kick in on Dec. 1.
These challenges have some advocates calling on the state to reboot the motel program so everyone can be housed.
As for staffing these family shelters, the governor says reassigning state employees like during the pandemic could be on the table.
That means the shelter in Waterbury that is currently gummed up in the courts could open.