Below you can read about all the events that have taken place this winter around Vermont to bring awareness to issues around homelessness. Find out how to get in touch with your local housing coalition HERE.
Addison County Housing Coalition
On January 18th, 2023, the Addison County Housing Coalition displayed flags to represent the three age groups of their houseless population (children, adults, and elders) on the town greens in Bristol, Middlebury, and Vergennes from 7 AM – 3 PM. They also held a “honk and wave” rally in each of these locations from 7:30 AM – 9 AM. ACHC had a banner with a QR code that directs to a webpage created in collaboration with Middlebury College and hosted by one of their community partners, the United Way of Addison County. This webpage has a variety of quotes, testimonial video clips, and data relating to affordable housing, demographics, waitlists, barriers, and will hold “Call to Action” for community membres and providers. Visit the Homelessness Awareness Day page on United Way of Addison County site.
ACHC also shared their message on the 92.1 radio station.
The Addison Independent will also carry a educational series on homelessness in their Ways of Seeing column. The series begins Thursday January 11th and will run for the several Thursdays. Find the stories HERE.
Contact: Heidi Lacey, Executive Director of Charter House Coalition, heidi@chcvt.org
Bennington County Housing Coalition
The Bennington Housing Coalition held a walk, flag display, and gathering for Homelessness Awareness Day on Jan. 18th. The walk will began at the Splash Pad and culminate at the four corners around 5 PM.
Roxanne Carelli, Executive Director of Bennington County Coalition for Homeless, also spoke with Vermont Public’s Mikaela LeFrak and Daniela Fierro alongside Champlain Housing Trust’s Michael Monte for Vermont Edition on Thursday Jan. 11th. Check out a summary or listen to the conversation HERE.
Contact: Roxanne Carelli, Executive Director of Bennington County Coalition for the Homeless, director@bcchvt.org
Housing Coalition of Southeast Vermont (Brattleboro Area)
On Thursday January 18th the Housing Coalition of Southeast Vermont held a candlelight vigil in Pliny Park, in Brattleboro at 4 PM to remember those who have died without a home and renew their commitment to end homelessness in Vermont. The event also included an invocation and closing from local faith leaders, speaking from local persons with lived experience, and music from local musicians. View the flyer for the event.
The Access Brattleboro Community, a project of Brooks Memorial Library in collaboration with local organizations and neighbors, also distributed a guide to supporting neighbors experiencing homelessness at the library. View the guide.
The coalition prepared a flag display depicting the number of children, adults, and elders who experienced homelessness in their region over the past year on the front lawn of the Municipal Center on Main Street on Thursday Jan. 18th.
Coverage of the events from the Brattleboro Reformer and the Reformer’s photos from the day.
Contact: Fred Breunig, fmbreunig@comcast.net
Franklin & Grand Isle Housing Coalition
The Franklin/Grand Isle Housing Coalition histed a gathering in Taylor Park in St. Albans (near the bandstand) on Jan. 18th at 2:00 PM highlighting the issue of homelessness in our area and work being done to combat it. There was a flag display highlighting those who have experienced homelessness in Franklin/Grand Isle Counties in the last year and a few speakers.
Check out coverage of the day from the St. Albans Messenger
Contact: Ben Kaufmann, Program Director, Samaritan House, bkaufmann@cvoeo.org or Jess Graff, Associate Director Franklin/Grand Isle Community Action CVOEO, jgraff@cvoeo.org
Lamoille Valley Housing & Homelessness Coalition
The Lamoille Valley Housing and Homeless Coalition held their 11th Annual Homelessness Awareness Walk in Reflection of Vermont’s Homelessness Awareness Day on January 18th at 12 PM. The walk through town began at the Manosh Complex in Morrisville and ended at the gazebo on Main Street. The walk was followed by a reflection beginning at 1 PM from a variety of speakers with an open forum for anyone who might like to speak at the end. Flags were displayed to represent the number of persons in Lamoille county who experienced homelessness in 2023. The flags were in three colors to represent the number of children, adults, and elders.
View the Facebook page for the event
See Vermont Community Newspaper Group’s coverage of the event
Contact: Sherry Marcelino, Community Support Manager, Lamoille County Mental Health, sherry.marcelino@lamoille.org
Northeast Kingdom – Caledonia & Southern Essex and Orleans & Northern Essex Housing Coalitions
The local housing coalitions in the Caledonia & Southern Essex and Orleans & Northern Essex had a flag display in Newport at Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA) at 70 Main St, and another flag display at the Depot Square Park in St. Johnsbury.
The flags displayed the numbers of persons who experienced homelessness between January 1st, 2023 and December 31st 2023 in their region.
These numbers are pulled from our Homelessness Management Information System and Coordinated Entry list. The numbers are a baseline and are always an undercount as they do not include many individuals including those served and supported through domestic & sexual violence programs, many who are unsheltered and unable to seek help through service providers in their region, and those who are at risk of homelessness.
Contact: Casey Winterson, Director of Economic and Community Based Services at NEKCA, cwinterson@nekcavt.org or Chris Mitchell, Field Director for the Vermont Agency of Human Services, Chris.Mitchell@vermont.gov.
Rutland Housing Coalition
Rutland local housing coalition member the Homeless Prevention Center hosted their 24th Annual Candlelight Vigil in Depot Park on December 21st. This outdoor event aims to bring attention to the pain of homelessness many Vermont families and individuals endure. brings attention to the challenge of homelessness faced by so many Vermonters. It’s an opportunity to gather and quietly reflect on people we have lost before they could find a home of their own, and hear about the strength and successes of others on their journey.
Watch a video on the vigil from PEGTV Rutland.
Contact: Angus Chaney, Executive Director, Homeless Prevention Center, angus@hpcvt.org
Springfield Area Housing Coalition
The Springfield Supportive Housing Program (SSHP) planned a variety of activities to commemorate Homelessness Awareness Day.
On Wednesday, January 10th, Springfield Supported Housing hosted a heart-to-heart chat about homelessness in their community: Homelessness – A Community Conversation with Springfield Supported Housing Program. In addition, the SSHP will be participating in a statewide statement about homelessness on January 10th at the Springfield Town Library. Read more about the event on the Vermont Journal.
Throughout the week leading up to January 18th, the Springfield Public Library showed “The Homestretch”, a movie about three homeless teenagers who brave Chicago winters, the pressures of high school, and life alone on the streets to build a brighter future.
In addition, the SSHP participated in the statewide statement about homelessness. They presented a flag display of all of the individuals they served in Windsor and Windham counties in 2023. The numbers were further broken down by age: children, adults, and elders.
SSHP are also accepted donations for the individuals and families they serve in their community. Donations can be made through the SSHP PayPal. They also accept cash/gas cards/gift cards and new donations including: Bed-In-A Bag, new utensils/knife sets, twin mattresses and bed frames, laundry baskets, pot and pan sets for individuals transitioning into a new home! See their Amazon List HERE. Any support is greatly appreciated. Read more about donations HERE.
SSHP’s “Your Donation Makes a Difference. Be the Change. Help Change a Life” event is a donation drive for Springfield Supported Housing Programs (SSHP) to create welcome baskets for individuals and families entering their safe and affordable home
View SSHP’s flyer for their homelessness awareness events.
The Weathersfield Vermont School District hosted a “Hats to Help” day where the kid will paid $1 to wear their hat at school for the day to fundraise for SSHP for Homelessness Awareness Day.
Contact: Courtney Campbell, Springfield Supported Housing Program, vista@sshpvt.org, (802) 885-3034 ext. 112
Upper Valley Housing Coalition
The Upper Valley Haven hosted the 2023 annual Memorial Candlelight Vigil for People Experiencing Homelessness alongside their partners on Thursday December 21st to honor the people who died this year and have experienced homelessness. This vigil was a time to reflect on the trauma and mortal risk that comes with being unhoused. The ceremony included a reading of names and a tribute to their lives, followed by a procession across Bridge St. to New Hampshire. In addition, some advocates and service providers will camp outside tonight in solidarity with people who are unhoused.
View the press release for the vigil
Read the Valley News article on the vigil.
For Homelessness Awareness Day, the Upper Valley Haven displayed luminaries for the 337 people in our region experiencing homelessness. The luminaries were put together by volunteers, staff, and guests at the shelter.
Contact: Cherry Sullivan, csullivan@uppervalleyhaven.org or Spencer Sanders, ssanders@uppervalleyhaven.org
Washington Housing Coalition
Washington County Housing Coalition in collaboration with Capstone Community Action 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 coverage of the event by WCAX.
For Homelessness Awareness Day on Jan. 18, the Washington County Housing Coalition assisted HHAV in putting together a Memorial Vigil/Speak-Out that took place at noon on the statehouse steps. Members of the WHCH spoke at the vigil.
The WCHC also set up a flag display to represent the number of persons who experienced homelessness in Washington County in 2023 in City Hall Park in Barre. The flag were placed on the 15th and removed at the end of the day on the 18th.
Contact: Ramsey Papp, Capstone Community Action, rpapp@capstonevt.org or Julie Bond, Co-Executive Director, Good Samaritan Haven, jbond@goodsamaritanhaven.org
Chittenden County Homeless Alliance
On January 18th, the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance (CCHA) hosted a community event at City Hall Park to raise awareness and showcase their commitment to making homelessness rare, brief, and non-reoccurring. All were invited to join in supporting our community.
A few tidbits that are not included in the event details are:
The group lit tea light candles for every individual experiencing homelessness in Chittenden County and displaying them on the City Hall steps
They also heard brief remarks from the following folks:
Michael Monte (CEO of CHT), Kerri Duquette Hoffman (AHS), Will Towne (Spectrum), and Eli Goulding [preferred name Rhubes] (person with lived experience)
In addition, the group also passed out hot chocolate & had a few fire pits to make the event a little more comfortable for our attendees.