All people need and deserve to have a roof over their heads. But over the last several years, we have raised the alarm as thousands of Vermonters were unsheltered and pushed onto the streets through the state’s short-sighted policy decisions.
These choices are not without consequences: Vermont now has the 4th highest homelessness rate in the country. A lack of housing and unmanageable rents force more and more families into homelessness each year and make it even harder for those already without shelter to find a place to live. We have all witnessed this reality unfold across our communities. Put simply: People are struggling. That is why we are calling on state leaders to take action in 2026 to fund our social safety net and respond to people in crisis with help, not handcuffs.
In the face of these challenges, the Scott administration has continued its plans to defund Vermont’s emergency shelter system. Furthermore, President Trump’s harmful rhetoric and outright lies about crime, homelessness, and substance use disorder are having ripple effects in our own backyard. While Trump deploys thousands of federal troops to the streets in cities like D.C. and Memphis and incentivizes state and local governments to lock up people who have nowhere else to go, Vermont state and local leaders are considering implementing similar tactics that deny our unsheltered neighbors the basic dignity and respect we all deserve. To be clear, efforts to disparage and scapegoat people in poverty is a talking point—and a policy disaster--pulled straight from Trump’s playbook. Vermonters deserve better.
Homelessness is a policy failure—not a personal one
Despite the narrative we are seeing sweep across Vermont and the nation, the truth is that homelessness is ultimately a housing problem. Research shows that rates of poverty, disability, and substance use disorder do not explain why some communities have high rates of homelessness while others do not. What explains this trend? Housing supply and affordability.
Homelessness is not a failure on the part of the people experiencing it. It is the result of policy choices made by our state over the course of decades. State leaders chose not to develop more affordable housing. They chose not to invest in adequate community shelter capacity. And, they chose to severely restrict eligibility for the General Assistance emergency hotel/motel program, and create additional barriers that leave even people who are eligible for the program out on the street. The good news is, policymakers can choose a different path—but they need to hear from you.
Meaningful progress on homelessness requires investments in our communities
Vermonters want to see our towns and cities thrive. Doing so requires making housing accessible and affordable for everyone. Punishing people for existing in public spaces will not end homelessness—in fact, it makes things worse. Tickets, fines, and time spent in prison make it harder to get an apartment, find a job, go back to school, or connect with community services. This approach is ineffective, inhumane, and extremely expensive. On average, it costs $260 per night to incarcerate someone in Vermont, compared to $80 for a room in the state’s motel program. Vermont needs its leaders to understand that criminalizing homelessness is the least effective and most expensive path forward to addressing the challenges we face.
To solve homelessness, our state needs to make robust investments in community services that address its root causes. That includes things like affordable housing, education and job training programs, and comprehensive health care services. We also need to fully fund our emergency shelter program so that everyone who needs it has access to a safe place to sleep. And, we need to resist the Trump administration’s cynical efforts to divide our communities and scapegoat people who are struggling.
The path forward
We know that forcing more people experiencing hardship into our criminal legal system will not revitalize our downtowns, solve our homelessness crisis, or make our communities safer. The continual defunding of our social safety net--access to shelter, mental health support, substance use treatment, food, and other basic necessities--has created a situation where essential services for struggling community members are inadequately funded or entirely unavailable. This creates a perpetual cycle of struggle and strife in our communities, worsening economic inequality and further polarizing the “haves” and the “have nots.” But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Your voice will make a difference in the fight to fund real solutions to homelessness, and we hope you will join us in urging lawmakers to protect our most vulnerable neighbors by investing in the kinds of evidence-based systems of support that our communities so desperately need. Together, we can ensure that everyone who calls Vermont home is treated with dignity and respect and has access to the resources and support they need.