MIDDLEBURY/VERGENNES — The July 1 sunset of the state’s motel voucher program has sent more than 300 vulnerable Vermont households into uncertain housing situations, and leaders at Addison County’s two homeless shelters are noting a corresponding uptick in demand.

What expired was an executive order signed this spring by Gov. Phil Scott that allowed around 400 households to remain in motels and hotels on state-funded vouchers between March 30 — when the program was originally set to end — until June 30.

A Democrat majority in the General Assembly — noting the state’s lack of affordable housing and shelter beds — had urged Scott to grant the extension to all the roughly 1,450 qualifying households that were availing themselves of the emergency service.

Scott and most Republican lawmakers opposed keeping the program open to all participants, but the governor did agree to maintain hotel-motel vouchers through June 30 for the most vulnerable homeless households, such as those with young children and those with acute medical needs.

In a June 28 update memo, Frank Knaack, executive director of the Housing & Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, offered a preview of what would occur on July 1: “379 households, including 541 adults and 291 children will be exited from their shelter under the program.”

He added an additional 99 households, including 125 adults and 13 children who are currently sheltered through the state’s General Assistance program, would also lose their shelter by July 1.

Many of those exiting hotel and motels have been busy trying to find beds in the state’s limited number of homeless shelters. Among them are the John Graham Shelter (JGS) in Vergennes and the Charter House Coalition’s (CHC) emergency shelter in Middlebury.

Susan Whitmore is executive director of John Graham Housing & Services, which runs JGS. The JGS is the only shelter in the county that serves families; the CHS shelter serves adult individuals.

Whitmore said the JGS has seen a 20% increase in shelter requests since June 30 — most from families with children.

“Our shelter is currently full, and our waitlist is at 40 households,” she said.

The JGS typically sees a waiting list of 5-15 households, so having 40 on standby is highly unusual, according to Whitmore.

So what can JGS do for folks calling for assistance? While the nonprofit can’t offer a bed, its outreach workers can dispense food boxes, clothing, camping gear to live outdoors, and connections to health care and other vital services.

“We all know the bottleneck for the housing crisis a lack of affordable housing,” she said. “There are plans for affordable housing projects to move forward across the state, but these things aren’t yet in place.”

Heidi Lacey is executive director of the CHC. While the CHC shelter can’t accommodate families, the facility has seen a spike in demand for street outreach services — including for food and survival provisions.

“For individuals leaving motel/hotels, sleeping outside or in their vehicle rather than turning immediately to emergency shelter is typically ‘stop one,’ because all shelters in Vermont are full,” Lacey said in an email. “(Sleeping outside) is less manageable for families with children, and for the medically vulnerable. CHC has a waitlist of seven as of this writing.”

With more folks in need, Lacey said CHC’s main concern right now is connecting all callers with needed services.

“The number of individuals we are encountering who are unhoused has doubled this month,” she said, adding the number is likely to grow as more newly unhoused folks try their luck in Addison County.

“The more heartbreaking calls involve persons that may be oxygen-dependent, but do not meet other criteria set by the state of Vermont to remain in a motel. The medically frail are suffering,” Lacey said. “Families with children are also being faced with tremendous burdens as they are forced to move around the state to identify conducive living arrangements that are only temporary.”

What action would Whitmore advise Scott to take? To extend the motel voucher program until shelters can expand.

“I feel strongly the governor should consider is that the humane thing to do in this situation is keep people in (hotels or motels) until remediations are in place,” she said. “The remediation is additional shelter (beds), and the solution is affordable housing. It means an investment by the state, but the alternative is people living outside.”

John Flowers is at [email protected].