The enactment of H.938, the Vermont Homelessness Response Continuum, represents the most significant disability protections ever written into Vermont’s homelessness response. This has been at the forefront of our work for many years from the State House Steps to today. Today, real progress was made.

“For the people we have lost, and for the people still fighting, today matters. Vermonters living with disabilities at the intersection of homelessness have been falling through the cracks of this system for years. Today, the law says they matter. This is hard-won progress. We celebrate it, we will fight to protect it, and we will not rest until every Vermonter has a safe place to call home,” said Brenda Siegel, Executive Director of End Homelessness Vermont.

For the first time, Vermont law explicitly requires that every level of the homelessness response system from prevention to shelter to permanent housing comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and takes into account both accessibility and needs of people living with disabilities. 

These protections matter enormously to the Vermonters we serve. Clients on oxygen, in wheelchairs, living with muscular dystrophy, living with cancer, with mental health challenges and substance use disorders and more. People who have spent years falling through the cracks of a system that was not designed with them in mind.

This legislation gets us out of the fight about hotels and motels and to the real work of ending homelessness. This is not a silver bullet. It is not going to end the crisis, but it is a runway. It is a starting place to create a real structure that will need to be refined significantly as it is implemented. It is time for us all to be pulling in the same direction. 

Aspects of this new system raise serious concerns. The reduction in emergency shelter will lead to catastrophic outcomes for the most vulnerable Vermonters especially in the winter. It is not good for our communities, our state or the people experiencing homelessness to have a system that leaves people on the street for many months every year. We will continue to push for a Vermont that keeps people sheltered as a gateway to permanent housing, not as a respit from the street. And while the system sets up a requirement that people experiencing homelessness within the emergency shelter system will have access to case management, there is not enough funding to be able to fully implement this option. The funding will need to catch up to the requirement.

This statute will take effect in sections and there will be an extensive rule making process that will require partner and public engagement. End Homelessness Vermont will be paying close attention and engaging in collaboration with the Administration throughout the rulemaking process to ensure that a humane approach is taken, one that best serves all people experiencing homelessness in our state. Ultimately, we must work together to build the housing that will end the homelessness crisis in Vermont once and for all.

We are deeply grateful to Senator Ginny Lyons and Chair Theresa Wood, whose years of listening and learning made this possible. To Representative Jubilee McGill, who brought her own lived experience to this legislation. To Representative Eric Maguire for his critical work bridging perspectives. And to the advocates, providers, and people with lived experience across Vermont who showed up and advocated for the best possible outcome.

For years, we have fought alongside those most impacted. Hundreds of Vermonters living with disabilities at the intersection of homelessness and housing insecurity have shared their stories with legislators, written letters, and made their voices heard. Dozens have testified in committees. This law exists in large part because of their courage and graciousness in sharing the most painful parts of their lives in hopes of making things better for others. They deserve to see this moment celebrated and they deserve to see it fully realized.

We cannot celebrate this moment without remembering those we lost along the way. Vermonters who died outside or in emergency shelter before they were able to make it home People living with disabilities who deserved shelter, dignity, and care, and did not get it in time. So many of them also shared their stories and used their voice. They wrote letters, they testified, they advocated for change. They planted seeds for trees they did not get to see grow. We carry them with us. This law is for them too.

Vermont has taken a real step toward a system that finally sees and protects its most vulnerable neighbors. We are nowhere near done. The work ahead will be long and hard, but today we have something we did not have before: a foundation to build on. And a model for ensuring that disability protections are front and center and are written into every bill. 

To our clients, the ones we have lost, and the ones still fighting, we will not rest until together we end homelessness in Vermont and across this country.