VT Organizations Call on Governor for Action as Emergency Shelter Crisis Deepens

CVOEO signed the letter below alongside other organizations dedicated to supporting our unhoused community.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2025

Contact: Frank Knaack, 334.322.6729, fknaack@hhav.org

Vermont Homelessness Organizations Call on Governor Scott for Immediate Action as Emergency Shelter Crisis Deepens

MONTPELIER, VT — On June 28, over 30 Vermont-based homelessness prevention and response organizations issued an urgent appeal to Governor Phil Scott, calling for immediate and decisive action to address a looming crisis facing nearly 1,000 vulnerable Vermonters at risk of losing emergency shelter by July 1. As of this morning, there has been no substantive response from the Governor.

The organizations warn that Vermont's current shelter infrastructure is already overwhelmed and lacks the capacity to absorb those being forced out of the state’s General Assistance Emergency Housing Program (GA Program), which was made clear on June 27 when the state released information clarifying the scope of the crisis facing our state. According to this newly available data, 478 highly vulnerable households, including 666 adults and 304 children will lose their shelter by July 1. Without intervention, many families, seniors, and medically vulnerable residents will be left with nowhere safe to go.

"We are standing on the edge of a preventable humanitarian crisis,” said Sarah Russell, Special Asst. to End Homelessness with the City of Burlington. “Unless the Governor takes swift action, nearly one thousand Vermonters—children, pregnant people, seniors—will be forced onto the streets.”

The letter, addressed directly to Governor Scott, outlines specific requests including rescinding a June 4 letter that reinterprets the Governor’s Executive Order 03-25, which previously waived the 80-day shelter limit for eligible households. The organizations also urge the Governor to use his constitutional and emergency management authority to either extend or expand access to shelter statewide.

“When the Executive Order was issued, it was understood as a reprieve—an opportunity to stabilize families and medically vulnerable adults and connect them with long-term solutions,” said Kim Anetsberger, Executive Director of the Lamoille Community House. “Now, that promise is being undone by backpedaling that contradicts the plain language of the order. This is unconscionable.”

The statewide shelter capacity currently stands at just 616 households and is already at full occupancy. With seasonal cold-weather shelters closing and over 4,600 Vermonters documented as unhoused, advocates emphasize the state’s critical reliance on the GA Program as a last-resort safety net.

“If the state doesn’t act, we’re left giving tents to families with children,” said Mary Gerisch, Co-Chair of the Balance of State CoC. “That’s not a housing policy. That’s survival triage in one of the wealthiest states in the richest country in the world.”

The organizations offer multiple actionable paths forward for the Governor’s office, including calling a special legislative session, issuing a new state of emergency, or directing state agencies to utilize existing spending authority to immediately increase shelter availability.

“We’re not just pointing out a problem—we’re offering solutions,” said Frank Knaack, Executive Director of the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont. “We stand ready to support the Governor and legislature in implementing emergency shelter measures swiftly and humanely. Inaction is unacceptable.”

"This is the most horrifying thing that I have seen our state do," said Brenda Siegel, Executive Director of End Homelessness Vermont. "There is a stark difference between this exit and all the others. In this exit, the Governor himself identified these households as highly vulnerable, the administration knows who they are sending outside, exactly. People in wheelchairs, on oxygen, people in active cancer treatment and in need of in-home nursing care. And children and babies. This is not humane and there is still time to do the right thing."

A copy of the letter from providers can be found here.