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Writer's pictureDavid Martins

A safety net that is leaving more people out

By Yvonne Abraham. Reposted from The Boston Globe, October 7, 2012. “Ginna and her daughter had bounced from couch to couch for months before they lost their last refuge: A friend, worried about losing her lease, asked her to leave. Unemployed and out of options, the young mother went to the state to ask for emergency shelter on Aug. 8. She had previously been denied because she was $12 over the income limit. Now Department of Housing and Community Development workers suspected Ginna of quitting her job at a sandwich shop to get benefits. She begged them to talk to her former boss, who could tell them she was let go because she had no child care and couldn’t make shifts. They didn’t… The Patrick administration’s heart might be in the right place when it comes to ending homelessness, but its new approach to this huge problem is hurting some of the very people most in need of help. While boosting resources for permanent housing, the state has begun turning away an alarming number of families from its shelter system. Until recently, 40 to 50 percent of families who applied for emergency shelter were denied each month. Last month, the average was 68 percent. In the last week of September, 74 percent of families seeking shelter were denied. Ginna’s case is the most tragic of many…” View PDF of Full Boston Globe Article

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Please visit our new Housing & Homelessness Alliance of Vermont website at www.hhav.org!

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