Top Ten 2023: Once again, housing is scarce

A lack of available housing created a lot of problems in 2023, not only for folks trying to settle in Addison County, but for various businesses and institutions trying to fill vacancies on their workforce rosters.

The state of Vermont will once again pay to shelter people experiencing homelessness in motels during the bulk of the cold-weather months, regardless of that day’s forecast or whether they meet certain eligibility requirements.

The Charter House Coalition’s emergency shelter in the coming months will help its houseless guests tackle the challenges of another cold Vermont winter with warms cots, hearty food, some new self-improvement programs and a first-ever associate director.

John Graham Housing & Services is making repairs and assembling warming kits to better serve houseless folks both inside and outside of its shelter at 69 North Main St. in Vergennes this winter.

The houseless problem is more complicated than just providing shelter.

A group of local human services providers, business leaders and public safety officials have re-energized a community task force to tackle issues related to Middlebury’s houseless population.

Middlebury officials, downtown merchants, local lawmakers and Addison County human services providers have begun what they believe could be a long process of dealing with a group of houseless individuals who’ve been camping under the Cross Street Bridge o … (read more)

“Unwanted person.” That is the term twice used in the Addison Independent’s Middlebury Police Log to juxtapose the interest of a business and the presence of a human being.

VERGENNES — John Graham Housing & Services (JGHS) has won a $596,731 grant through the Vermont Housing Opportunity Program (HOP) to increase its support not only for houseless individuals and families, but also for the advocates who assist them. The H … (read more)

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.