Thank you to all our colleagues across Vermont for helping bring awareness to our state’s homelessness crisis on our 2023 Homelessness Awareness Day!
Below you can read about all the events that have taken or will take place this winter around Vermont to bring awareness to issues around homelessness.
Addison County Housing Coalition: Bristol, Middlebury, and Vergennes
On January 19th, 2023, the Addison County Housing Coalition displayed flags to represent the three age groups of their houseless population as well as the total of households ages 0-17, 18-59 and 60 and older. They had displays and rallies in three locations: Bristol, Middlebury and Vergennes throughout the day. A banner provided a direct “ask” of community members to learn more and direct them to a webpage created in collaboration with Middlebury College and hosted by one of their community partners and many service providers gathered at the Middlebury display during the peak morning commute timeframe. ACHC’s events were featured on WCAX.
As part of an ongoing awareness campaign, ACHC will host a webpage that will have a variety of quotes, testimonial video clips, and data relating to affordable housing, demographics, waitlists, barriers, etc. ACHC plans to keep this webpage current and maintained through a collaboration with the Privilege and Poverty Group at Middlebury College. Visit the Homelessness Awareness Day page on United Way of Addison County site.
Contact: Heidi Lacey, Executive Director of Charter House Coalition, heidi@chcvt.org
Bennington County Housing Coalition: Bennington
The event Bennington County Coalition for the Homeless is planning is the Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY), which is a walk on February 25, 2023. Walkers and teams from the community will walk to raise money for local charities serving people experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness.
Poster for the Coldest Night of the Year Walk
Contact: Chloe Viner Collins, Executive Director of Bennington County Coalition for the Homeless, director@bcchvt.org
Brattleboro Area Housing Coalition: Pliny Park, Brattleboro
On Thursday January 19th at 5 PM in Pliny Park, Brattleboro local housing coalition member organization Groundworks Collaborative hosted a vigil. They had representation from the local Inter-Faith Community, local community choir, individuals with lived experience, and representation from a group of community organizers with lived experience (Advocation for the Unfortunate- A4U). Read more about the event and check out video and photos in the Brattleboro Reformer. (Photos below from the Brattleboro Reformer)
Contact: Karli Schrade, 54 Shelter Coordinator, Groundworks Collaborative, kschrade@groundworksvt.org
Franklin & Grand Isle Housing Coalition: St. Albans
The Franklin/Grand Isle local housing coalition hosted a flag display & gathering in Taylor Park in the center of St. Albans on January 19th. Providers and community members gathered for a short vigil lead by pastor Jessica Moore and heard from a person with lived experience of homelessness; Jess Graff, Associate Director Franklin/Grand Isle Community Action CVOEO; and Ben Kaufmann, Program Director at Samaritan House.
Each flag in their park display represented a person who experienced or is experiencing homelessness in Franklin County over the past year. They also had an example of the emergency tent kit given out by their organization to persons seeking shelter when their shelters are full and signs providing information in the park and will be visible from nearby roadways. Read more about their event in the St. Alban’s Messenger.
Contact: Jess Graff, Associate Director Franklin/Grand Isle Community Action CVOEO, jgraff@cvoeo.org
Lamoille Housing Coalition
The Lamoille Valley Housing and Homeless Coalition held a Homelessness Awareness Walk in Reflection of Vermont’s Homelessness Awareness Day on January 19th. The walk began at North Gate Plaza in Morrisville at noon, followed Main Street, and end on Pleasant Street and will be followed by a reflection. Flags were also displayed to represent the number of households in Lamoille county currently experiencing homelessness.
Flyer for LVHHC Homelessness Awareness Day Walk
On December 21st, LVHHC hosted a vigil for those who have lost their lives while experiencing homelessness over the past year at three different sites in their area: the public library in Morrisville, the Jewish Community Center, and Hyde Park. Check out the article on the Hyde Park vigil in the Vermont Community Newspaper Group and photos from the Hyde Park vigil.
Contact: Sherry Marcelino, Community Support Manager, Lamoille County Mental Health, sherry.marcelino@lamoille.org
Northeast Kingdom – Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans Housing Coalitions: St. Johnsbury, Newport, Lincolnville, Barton, & Canaan
The NEK housing coalitions of Caledonia/Southern Essex and Orleans/Northern Essex worked together to create a flag display in at Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA) North in Newport at United Community Church on Main Street in St. Johnsbury, St. Johnsbury School, and Olivia’s Place in Lyndonville. These flag displays featured two different colored sets of flags representing the number homeless adults and children in the Northeast Kingdom*. Posters explained the flag representation, listed ways community members can help, and proclaimed housing as a human right at these locations. Packets of information including a list of the NEK representation to the Vermont legislature were available for visitors to take home.
*These numbers are pulled from the 2022 Point-in-Time Count, which counts HUD-defined literal homeless persons on a single night in January.
The coalitions will also hosted a movie showing of The Invisible Class at 6 PM at Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury. The showing was also available virutally and was followed by an opportunity for discussion.
Read more about the events in the Caledonian Record.
Contact: Casey Winterson, Director of Economic and Community Based Services at NEKCA, cwinterson@nekcavt.org or Robert Little, Director of Community Development at RuralEdge, RobertL@ruraledge.org.
Rutland Housing Coalition: Depot Park, Rutland
Rutland local housing coalition member the Homeless Prevention Center hosted a candlelight vigil in Depot Park on December 21st. Read more about the vigil in the Rutland Herald article, and view photos from the vigil.
Contact: Angus Chaney, Executive Director, Homeless Prevention Center, angus@hpcvt.org
Springfield Area Housing Coalition: Springfield & Bellows Falls
On January 19, Springfield area housing coalition member Springfield Supported Housing Program collaborated with Vermont Dept. of Labor and other organizations on a Warmth Drive to collect items of warmth and other helpful items for persons experiencing homelessness. Drop-off locations included Springfield Library, Springfield Cinema 3, Park’s Place in Bellows Falls, Bellows Falls Opera House, and Springfield Plaza. SSHP partners also created essential bags for persons experiencing homelessness.
SSHP also created a display to represent the number of persons experiencing homelessness in the Springfield area with pairs of socks pinned on a clothes. There were 122 socks, with 35 pairs representing children, and 2 scarves to represent the two individuals who passed away.
Flyer for Springfield Homelessness Awareness Day Warmth Drive
Contact: Brandy Clark, Americorps VISTA at Springfield Supported Housing Program, americorps@sshpvt.org, (802) 885-3034 ext. 108
Upper Valley Housing Coalition: Hartford
The Upper Valley local housing coalition organization, Upper Valley Haven, put out luminaires in front of their main shelter on Hartford Avenue representing the number of people currently homeless and looking for housing in their region.
This information comes from the Coordinated Entry list of persons currently homeless and searching for housing. Coordinated Entry (CE) is a process that ensures people experiencing a housing crisis have fair and equal access and are quickly identified, assessed for, referred, and connected to housing assistance based on their strengths and needs.
The Upper Valley local housing coalition organizations also held candlelight vigils on the winter solstice, the longest night of year, on December 21st, for people experiencing homelessness and those who lost their lives while unhoused in the past year in Hartford and Randolph. View materials and photos from Hartford vigil and Randolph vigil. Read the coverage of the event in the Valley News.
Contact: Cherry Sullivan, Director of Shelter and Clinical Services, Upper Valley Haven, csullivan@uppervalleyhaven.org
Washington Housing Coalition: Montpelier
On January 19th, Washington County Housing Coalition held display on the statehouse steps in Montpelier in which around 450 luminaires represented the number of persons who have experienced homelessness over the past year in Washington County. At 12 PM, they also hosted a gathering on the statehouse steps at which Colby Lynch and others with lived experience of homelessness shared their stories. Several copies of Colby’s story were also be available to be read. The event was covered by WCAX and featured on the 6 PM evening news. The event was also featured in the Times Argus.
Washington County local housing coalition in collaboration with Capstone Community Action and Another Way Community Center held a Homeless Persons’ Memorial Candlelight Vigil on December 21st on the statehouse lawn in Montpelier to remember community members in Vermont who experienced homelessness and passed away this year. View materials from the Montpelier vigil.
Contact: Julie Bond, Co-Executive Director, Good Samaritan Haven, jbond@goodsamaritanhaven.org
Chittenden County Homeless Alliance
On January 19th from 11 AM – 1 PM, Chittenden County Homeless Alliance hosted a homelessness services fair in the Sharon Bushor Room in Burlington City Hall. Local agencies with homeless services were there to provide information and answer questions.
Flyer for the CCHA Homelessness Services Fair
