During this holiday season, we at the Fair Housing Project acknowledge that not everyone in our community is afforded the opportunity to be home for the holidays.
During last year’s annual point-in-time count, 1,089 Vermonters were without housing. 251 of those people were 18 and under. VTDigger walked us in the shoes of homelessness by sharing the stories of a homeless community members during the holiday season a few years ago. CVOEO Food Shelf‘s Emmett Moseley reminds us, “The reality is 365 days per year people are in poverty. Thinking about it at Christmas is great, but we need that all year round. It’s really easy to think you can check off the boxes at Christmas time.”
In Burlington and across Vermont, Vermonters find ways to give back to their communities, sharing holiday cheer to those who may not have a family to share it with, the resources to celebrate, or a home to celebrate in. For the second year, Fletcher Free Library opened its doors to the public on both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“We thought about what kind of gaps in the community’s services need to be filled,” said Library Director Mary Danko. Last year, the library was refuge to 175 people during the holidays.
Across the world, cities develop innovative ways to address their growing homelessness challenge. In the Canadian city of Edmonton, strong housing leadership and a commitment to housing first policies has reduced homelessness by 43 percent in less than nine years. In the British cities of Bristol and Sheffield, housing organizations have addressed the growing gap between student housing and surrounding communities by partnering with local universities to creative integrated housing. Students are not just living with local low income populations, but able to give back.
To aid the effort in advocating for more safe, affordable, and equitable housing locally, our friends at Downstreet Housing shared some easy ways to get involved. In short:
- Spread the word
- Support local initiatives
- Contact your legislators
Talking to your friends and family about the positive impacts of affordable housing in your life, and in your community, is the greatest way to push back against negative perceptions of this crucial resource. To find out which housing organizations are local to you, click here. Both the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board hold events throughout the year that highlights the importance of affordable housing.
Remember, our communities’ needs are not limited to the period of holiday giving. In the words of our own Emmett Moseley, “365 days per year people are in poverty.” And we can do something about it.