Thank you to everyone who attended the annual Homelessness Awareness Day and Vigil at the Vermont Statehouse!
The day began with an early 7:30 a.m. start on the morning of Wednesday the 15th with coffee in the State House cafeteria. Homelessness advocates met with Representatives and Senators to highlight the important work they do on a daily basis. It was a great opportunity to network and get caffeinated before a busy day of testimony, advocacy, and solidarity.
Throughout the day, advocates took to the Card Room to educate lawmakers about the work being done across the State. Lawmakers learned about which strategies were working and what else needs to be done in order to end homelessness in Vermont.
In the morning, members of the Ve
rmont Affordable Housing Coalition, the Coalition to End Homelessness, and the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance provided testimony to legislative committees. There was testimony in the Senate Committee on Health & Welfare and the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs (meeting jointly), as well as the House Appropriations, House General Housing & Military Affairs, and House Human Services Committees (meeting jointly). The committees heard from a number of advocates, service providers, and people with lived experience, including a Veteran from Montpelier named David Przepioski.
At noon, community members, elected officials, and advocates gathered outside on the State House steps for the annual Memorial Vigil to remember our friends and neighbors who have died without homes, and to bring awareness of the struggles of those still searching for safe, affordable, accessible, and secure housing.
In
addition to key legislators, advocates, and folks with lived experience, we heard from two fourth graders from Founders Memorial School in Essex, as the rest of their class cheered them on from the audience with a huge banner. The young change makers shared their take on homelessness through a speech and poem. Unfortunately, many kids their age are currently experiencing homelessness in Vermont, as 23% of those counted in the last Point In Time count were children. Hearing from the fourth graders highlighted the urgency of the problem, while also instilling renewed hope for the future.
Finally, we attended the reading of a House Resolution recognizing January 15 as Homelessness Awareness Day and acknowledging the plight of Vermonters experiencing homelessness and the work you do to address their needs. The day’s devotional exercises were conducted by Stephan Marshall and Wesley Stephens, a person experiencing homelessness who read a passage to eulogize two of our neighbors who recently passed away without housing.
Thank you again to everyone who attended and helped to make this one of our most successful awareness days ever! We at VAHC hope that you will all continue to remember our friends and neighbors living without housing for the rest of the legislative session and beyond, until we finally end homelessness in Vermont.
