Protect Access to Shelter

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We all need a safe and secure place to live. But for thousands of our neighbors, access to reliable shelter is being pushed out of reach. Over the past several years, Governor Scott has pushed to remove hundreds of the most vulnerable Vermonters from emergency shelters and onto the streets. Now the governor is telling legislators that he won't support solutions to homelessness unless access to shelter is further restricted.

Legislative efforts to expand access to emergency shelter and create a comprehensive plan to address homelessness in our state have faced significant opposition from the Scott administration for years, continuing into this session. At a time when only the most vulnerable can access our state's General Assistance Emergency Housing program, the administration is still demanding further cuts that would put more people out on the street and rejecting proposals to successfully transition away from this program in the future.

Despite legislators' good-faith compromise plan that would improve Vermont's homelessness response system with no new costs, Scott administration officials have told committee members that they are unwilling to work with lawmakers on a plan that does not immediately remove existing access to shelter capacity.

Instead, they are proposing to cut access to GA emergency housing by roughly 50% by this July. To be clear, the people impacted by this policy change are primarily families with children, people above the age of 65, people with disabilities, and individuals fleeing domestic violence.

Denying life-saving services to our most vulnerable neighbors in the middle of a homelessness crisis is as inhumane as it is fiscally irresponsible.

Should the Governor continue to have his way, roughly 660 households will lose the roof over their heads come July. With community shelter beds at full capacity statewide, more people unable to access the emergency housing program will be left with no choice but to sleep outside.

This will result in more unsheltered people on our streets, more people's lives placed at risk, higher costs to state as people will be forced to rely on emergency departments for survival, and more financial pressure on our cities and towns to address a statewide crisis, despite already being at a fiscal breaking point of their own.

Governor Scott's own shelter plan will intensify the statewide housing crisis and needlessly place the lives of some of our most vulnerable community members at immense risk. Keeping our neighbors sheltered should not be a partisan issue.

Please fill out the form below and contact your legislators today!

The recipient:

Your State Senator and State Representative

The message:

Denying life-saving services to our most vulnerable neighbors in the middle of a homelessness crisis is as inhumane as it is fiscally irresponsible.

Please fill out the form below and contact your legislators today!

The recipient:

Your State Senator and State Representative

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Your Message

Subject Protect access to shelter

I am writing today to ask you to reject the governor's housing proposal - a plan that will make our statewide homelessness crisis drastically worse- and instead move forward with solutions that will preserve access to needed shelter and services.

Right now, the legislature is working hard on a proposal to keep the most vulnerable people safe and sheltered while Vermont's network of community-based shelter services is expanded. But the Governor's Housing Initiative will reduce immediate access to shelter by roughly 50% come July. This will result in more unsheltered people on our streets, more people's lives placed at risk, and more pressure on our cities and towns to address a statewide crisis.

Message Body

To be clear, the people targeted by the governor's plan to eliminate our statewide shelter benefit are primarily families with children, people above the age of 65, people with disabilities, and individuals fleeing domestic violence

Vermonters are relying on you to keep our neighbors safe, and ensure that our communities are not left to solve state-wide problems on our own. Please support the plan coming from House Human Services which will better protect access to shelter, and oppose the governor's proposal which will only make our housing crisis worse.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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Protect Access to Shelter

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