Paul O'Toole's recent death in Burlington demonstrates the challenges faced by people who are homeless and who do not meet the sobriety and other restrictions of area shelters. Read more in today's front page story in the Burlington Free Press.
Homelessness
Vermont's annual Homeless Memorial Day January 4
On January 4, 2012, the state's homeless shelters and service providers will commemorate the thousands of Vermonters who received housing and/or services this past year. A memorial vigil will be held at noon on the State House steps in Montpelier.
This event is sponsored by Vemont Coalition to End Homelessness. For more information, contact Linda Ryan at [email protected] or 802.373.6505
Managing the needs of VT's homeless on VPR at noon
Jane Lindholm at Vermont Public Radio (VPR) will discuss Vermont's homeless today at noon and again at 7PM.
The recent Occupy protests in Burlington brought to light problems of mental illness and substance abuse among some homeless people, but advocates say that doesn’t tell the whole story. In today's story, VPR looks at the entrenched issues facing some of Vermont’s homeless population and the resources to help them. Guests are Matt Young, supervisor of the Howard Center's Street Outreach Team in Burlington, and Rita Markley, executive director of COTS, the Committee On Temporary Shelter.
The story was produced by VPR's Patti Daniels.
Resources for Vermont veterans
The Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness has assembled the following list of resources for Vermont's veterans.
HUD program helps homeless veterans find affordable housing
A program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD/VASH) helps homeless veterans, such as Joseph Tomasello, find affordable housing. Today's New York Times describes how Mr. Tomasello's life took an unexpected downturn after his service in the air force, how he found himself homeless, and about his scramble for jobs and space in New York area homeless shelters.
Sept. 28 - VAHC Annual Meeting, VAHC/VCEH Joint Meeting & VCEH Monthly Meeting
September 28 is the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition’s Annual Meeting, as well as its annual joint meeting with the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness (VCEH), and the VCEH’s monthly meeting. As always, this year’s agenda is packed and exciting:
Feedback about new security deposit and renter risk pool
The State of Vermont is proposing systematic changes in its delivery of housing services to the homeless population. Two potential programs that may stem from these changes are a state-funded security deposit guarantee program and a renter risk pool.
A working group charged with recommending how these new programs would work would like your feedback on important components of each program and what will make them successful. All landlords and housing managers are strongly encouraged to complete the survey. The results of this survey will be reported to the state with the final recommendations.
Vermont 2-1-1 assesses first year of responding to after-hours calls for emergency housing
After one year of entering into a contract with the Agency of Human Services to cover the after-hours emergency housing assistance, more than 1,300 calls were received by Vermont 2-1-1. Of these requests for after-hours emergency housing, 329 callers were eligible for housing assistance. Alternate shelter was found for 451 of the remaining 1,015 callers who did not qualify for emergency housing. The majority of requests for emergency housing are from single individuals.
Funding awarded for 15 new vouchers for homeless veterans
Vermont will be able to permanently house 15 more homeless Veteran households in affordable housing with supportive services available thanks to a recent award to the Vermont State Housing Authority. The funding is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) program and is a coordinated effort by HUD and the Veteran’s Administration (VA) providing funding to local housing agencies.
RFP issued for grant writing services
The Chittenden Continuum of Care (CoC) is seeking grant writing services to prepare an application under HUD’s Fiscal Year 2011 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Competition. As of the issuance of this RFP, HUD has not yet published the NOFA. However, this RFP is being issued in anticipation of the NOFA being published in the summer or early fall of 2011. Proposals are due by 12:00 p.m., Friday, July 22, 2011.