Letter to the editor: Housing funds are still needed

In my 40-year career in Massachusetts with children and their families, I never knew any family that wanted to remain without a permanent home of their own.

I traveled to Washington, D.C., last year. When I arrived with my little vacation suitcase and emerged from the Metro, I encountered a sight which took my breath away.

Since January the 4/5 class at Ripton Elementary School has been providing lunches once a month for the homeless people at the Charter House in Middlebury. 

Local advocates for the homeless continue to battle for resources to assist one of the state’s most vulnerable populations, and they’ve developed another currency — to go along with people power and dollars — to assist in their efforts: Information.

Houseless and formerly houseless Vermonters and caring citizens will gather on Thursday to engage with their community to end homelessness in Vt.

Addison County Community Trust and John Graham Housing and Services will co-sponsor a screening of the film “A Place at the Table,” Sunday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m., at the Marquis Theater as part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

A group of local advocates is engaged in efforts to improve housing opportunities and health care access for houseless individuals and families in Addison County.

Middlebury’s Charter House Emergency Shelter is expanding its services and transitioning from a mostly volunteer-driven organization to professional one, with paid staff.

Recently eight local restaurants participated in an effort provide Christmas cookies to homeless shelters around the state.

John Graham Housing & Services is planning a $5 million overhaul of several of its affordable housing projects in Vergennes, Middlebury and Bristol.

Addison County’s two emergency homeless shelters are already full and carrying waiting lists as bone- chilling temperatures, sleet and snow once again take center stage in the Champlain Valley.

These are the current rules governing eligibility for hotel-motel vouchers for homeless households through the state’s general Assistance Emergency Housing Program.

Our unhoused neighbors are our neighbors. They deserve our attention, our action and our admiration, not our fear or disdain.

Where can those, who have the least, go to find employment opportunities, a free meal, health care, or simply a restroom when it’s late at night and everything is closed?

Middlebury residents and officials have long lamented the paucity of public restrooms in Addison County’s shire town.