Office of Lt. Governor David Zuckerman
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 20th, 2024
Contact
Lisa Gerlach
Chief of Staff, Office of the Lt. Governor
(802) 636-7047
Lisa.gerlach@vermont.gov
NEWS: Lt. Governor Zuckerman Statement on Evictions from Emergency Housing Program
MONTPELIER, Vt: On Friday, Lt. Governor David Zuckerman released the following statement regarding the recent and ongoing evictions of unhoused Vermonters from the emergency housing program:
“It has been devastating to see hundreds of vulnerable Vermonters evicted from hotels and motels across the state in the past week without a plan for where they will go. The lack of foresight from the Governor’s administration has put these individuals, many of whom are disabled or suffer from serious health conditions, at extreme risk.
“Sadly, before the COVID-19 pandemic, we as a society simply accepted that over 1,000 Vermonters were unhoused with minimal access to shelter, even in the winter months. The expansion of our state’s emergency housing program in 2020 allowed virtually all people experiencing homelessness to shelter in hotels and motels around the state, causing a positive societal shift in our moral values. We now understand that it is unacceptable to allow vulnerable people to suffer unhoused while many have the resources to help them. We cannot allow ourselves to slip back into the mindset that homelessness is ok. It is our collective responsibility to help the most vulnerable people in our society.
“It is important to remember that homelessness is a housing issue. We have more than 58,000 second homes in Vermont, many of which pay lower tax rates than first homes. We have long term rental housing that has been bought for investments and converted to short term rentals. We must explore more equitable housing and continue to make investments in building more affordable housing units across the state so that every Vermonter can afford a place to live.”
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