Category Archives: human rights

CVOEO Statement of Support to the Asian-American Community

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The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity grieves for and stands with the victims, their families, and the entire community in Atlanta. We feel the burning pain of the intolerance, misogyny, and racism that led to these eight tragic deaths. We stand up in protest to their murders because we cannot bear to see racism, misogyny, or any other manifestation of intolerance exist and spread further fear. This has to stop.

To you, our Asian and Asian-American community members, you are our next-door neighbors; you are our co-workers, your children are our children’s classmates. We are each a part of one another. We see you. We see your strength. We see you rise, day after day, to make our community stronger. We see the many ways you contribute to and help lead our community. We see you making Vermont more inclusive and stronger every day.

When someone dies, we are called to remember how important and sacred life is. We must continually recommit to shared values that ensure safety, equity, and a more just society for all. At CVOEO, we strive to help build a diverse, fair, equitable, and unbiased society by providing support to individuals in meeting their needs and reaching their goals. We know that your safety is our safety and your freedom is our freedom. We are all in this life together.

As an organization, CVOEO will continue to take action to move towards a just society. We will continue advocating for policies, education and resources that dismantle racism. To our Asian and Asian-American community members, and our BIPOC and LGBTQ plus community members: We see you! We believe in your dignity, resilience and strength and we stand with you; you are part of us.

To people across Vermont we invite you to join with CVOEO as we strive towards a fair, equitable, and just society where each individual, regardless of their skin color, gender, sexual identity, religion, income level, or political affiliation, belongs.

Vermont Human Rights Commission Statement Against Asian American and Pacific Islander Violence & Discrimination

Please also see the recent statement by the Vermont Human Rights Commission in solidarity with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community members. HRC’s statement includes:

  • Statistics on incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against AAPI in the United States over the past year: 3,795 incidents, ranging from verbal harassment to physical assault. The Stop AAPI Hate Report paints only a sliver of what is happening on the ground because not all survivors of harassment, discrimination, and acts of violence come forward. There are many barriers to speaking out.  
  • A link to the recording of HRC’s May townhall “When Fear Turns to Hate: Addressing Racism in VT against Asian and Pacific Islander Communities.“
  • Concrete ways to support AAPI community members in Vermont:
    • On April 8th, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., join the Peace and Justice Center, SURJ, and the Vermont Human Rights Commission in a Bystander Intervention training. Register here: Meeting Registration
    • If you are a member of the AAPI community and would like to stay connected to other AAPI community members e-mail Amanda.garces@vermont.gov to direct you to grassroots groups creating connection and community. 
    • If you experience harassment or discrimination, report it to Human Rights Commission or Attorney General’s Office.

 

 

It is time to vaccinate people experiencing homelessness

Homelessness, human rights, Inclusive Communities

By Paul Dragon, Executive Director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity

We need to vaccinate people experiencing homelessness – now.

People experiencing homelessness are much more likely than the general population to have chronic medical conditions along with mental health and substance use conditions. In addition, homelessness is deeply traumatic. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) people experiencing homelessness for even a brief duration are often traumatized by the sudden loss of a home and by adjusting to conditions on the street or in a shelter.  Some people living in homelessness, particularly women already have histories of trauma, including sexual, psychological, or physical abuse. Families experiencing homelessness, disproportionately headed by women, experience posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use at much higher rates higher than the national average. Individuals and families experiencing homelessness are the most marginalized, isolated, and discriminated against. They are highly vulnerable to disease, violence and victimization, and re-traumatization is ever present.

The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportuning (CVOEO) is currently operating one of the State’s largest emergency housing programs along with a daytime warming center.  We have witnessed that the trauma, loneliness and disconnection from community are further exasperated during this pandemic.  Not only are people experiencing homelessness more susceptible to disease but the instability in housing leads to frequent movement and potential community spread particularly among other people experiencing homelessness.  In addition, homelessness can be a barrier to attaining and keeping protective equipment and adhering to the many public health protocols. 

Illustration Credit: Crystal Tai, Wall Street Journal

According to the United Nations Charter, safe and affordable housing is a basic human right.  It is our failure as a society to provide decent, affordable housing that has created homelessness which results in poor health outcomes and increased vulnerability during this pandemic. It is our responsibility to do all we can to protect people during this time including providing them with a vaccine. We often turn away from people who are homeless thinking there is some personal or perhaps moral failure in what we see. In fact, it is society that has failed them.  Now it is time and our duty as a society during this pandemic to provide them with a vaccine and some measure of relief.

Understanding Protections Against Sexual Harassments in Housing

fair housing, housing discrimination, human rights

ft. Emily Collins, Civil Rights Specialist Contractor for The United States Attorney’s Office of the District of Vermont

This guest blog feature is by Emily Collins, a Civil Rights Specialist, Contractor for Vermont’s United States Attorney’s Office . The United States Attorney’s Office is one of the resources available for folks who want to file a complaint about housing discrimination, particularly if there are patterns or practices of discrimination. CVOEO’s Fair Housing project welcomes our partners to add their voices to our Thriving Communities blog. Please send inquiries to fhp@cvoeo.org Continue reading Understanding Protections Against Sexual Harassments in Housing →

What is Fair Housing Month about? HUD explains.

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Getting a head start on April in March –

Note: All the content below in this post is taken from a web site maintained by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In April, we come together as a community and a nation to celebrate the anniversary of the passing of the Fair Housing Act and recommit to that goal which inspired us in the aftermath of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination in 1968: to eliminate housing discrimination and create equal opportunity in every community.

Fundamentally, fair housing means that every person can live free. This means that our communities are open and welcoming, free from housing discrimination and hostility. But this also means that each one of us, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability, has access to neighborhoods of opportunity, where our children can attend quality schools, our environment allows us to be healthy, and [for us to grow] opportunities and self-sufficiency.

…commitment to fair housing is a living commitment, one that reflects the needs of America today and prepares us for a future of true integration.

History of Fair Housing –

On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 1968 act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Fair Housing Act (of 1968).

The enactment of the federal Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968 came only after a long and difficult journey. From 1966-1967, Congress regularly considered the fair housing bill, but failed to garner a strong enough majority for its passage. However, when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson utilized this national tragedy to urge for the bill’s speedy Congressional approval. Since the 1966 open housing marches in Chicago, Dr. King’s name had been closely associated with the fair housing legislation. President Johnson viewed the Act as a fitting memorial to the man’s life work, and wished to have the Act passed prior to Dr. King’s funeral in Atlanta.

Another significant issue during this time period was the growing casualty list from Vietnam. The deaths in Vietnam fell heaviest upon young, poor African-American and Hispanic infantrymen. However, on the home front, these men’s families could not purchase or rent homes in certain residential developments on account of their race or national origin. Specialized organizations like the NAACP, the GI Forum and the National Committee Against Discrimination In Housing lobbied hard for the Senate to pass the Fair Housing Act and remedy this inequity. Senators Edward Brooke and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts argued deeply for the passage of this legislation. In particular, Senator Brooke, the first African-American ever to be elected to the Senate by popular vote, spoke personally of his return from World War II and inability to provide a home of his choice for his new family because of his race.

With the cities rioting after Dr. King’s assassination, and destruction mounting in every part of the United States, the words of President Johnson and Congressional leaders rang the Bell of Reason for the House of Representatives, who subsequently passed the Fair Housing Act. Without debate, the Senate followed the House in its passage of the Act, which President Johnson then signed into law.

The power to appoint the first officials administering the Act fell upon President Johnson’s successor, Richard Nixon. President Nixon tapped then Governor of Michigan, George Romney, for the post of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. While serving as Governor, Secretary Romney had successfully campaigned for ratification of a state constitutional provision that prohibited discrimination in housing. President Nixon also appointed Samuel Simmons as the first Assistant Secretary for Equal Housing Opportunity.

When April 1969 arrived, HUD could not wait to celebrate the Act’s 1st Anniversary. Within that inaugural year, HUD completed the Title VIII Field Operations Handbook, and instituted a formalized complaint process. In truly festive fashion, HUD hosted a gala event in the Grand Ballroom of New York’s Plaza Hotel. From across the nation, advocates and politicians shared in this marvelous evening, including one of the organizations that started it all — the National Committee Against Discrimination In Housing.

In subsequent years, the tradition of celebrating Fair Housing Month grew larger and larger. Governors began to issue proclamations that designated April as “Fair Housing Month,” and schools across the country sponsored poster and essay contests that focused upon fair housing issues. Regional winners from these contests often enjoyed trips to Washington, DC for events with HUD and their Congressional representatives.

Under former Secretaries James T. Lynn and Carla Hills, with the cooperation of the National Association of Homebuilders, National Association of Realtors, and the American Advertising Council these groups adopted fair housing as their theme and provided “free” billboard space throughout the nation. These large 20-foot by 14-foot billboards placed the fair housing message in neighborhoods, industrial centers, agrarian regions and urban cores. Every region also had its own celebrations, meetings, dinners, contests and radio-television shows that featured HUD, state and private fair housing experts and officials. These celebrations continue the spirit behind the original passage of the Act, and are remembered fondly by those who were there from the beginning.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

 

Housing as a Vaccine

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The 2016 Homelessness Awareness Day and Vigil was held at the Vermont State House in Montpelier on January 7th. Two House committees Housing, General and Military Affairs and Human Services had a joint hearing on homelessness, taking testimony on housing and homelessness issues. A number of other hearings regarding homelessness happened in the building during the course of the day.

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Opening the hearing was nationally recognized pediatrician Dr. Megan Sandel (principal investigator on Children’s Health Watch,  Associate professor at Boston University’s School of Medicine,  and Medical director, at  the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership at Boston Medical Center), who has done path-breaking work on the effects of housing insecurity and homelessness on children. She gave a brilliant presentation on “Housing as a Vaccine: A Prescription for Child Health.”

At that hearing, Representatives and attending members of the public also heard from Vermont homeless service providers Linda Ryan (Director of Samaritan House) and Sara Kobylenski (Executive Director of Upper Valley Haven) on the latest trends and some recommended solutions to end or decrease homelessness in Vermont.

At Noon, community members, legislative leaders, administration officials, and advocates took the State House steps for a vigil to remember our friends and neighbors who died without homes, and to bring awareness of the struggles of those still searching for safe and secure housing. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and other legislative representatives and advocates joined and spoke at the vigil.

How can Housing be a Vaccine?

Dr. Megan presented data to support her thesis that housing can be protective for health. The quality, stability and affordability are important determinants to heath of all people. That means improving housing can provide multiple benefits. According to Dr. Megan, timing and duration of housing insecurity matter greatly to a child’s health. By increasing availability, affordability, and quality of housing, the health effect of housing insecurity can be decreased. Dr. Megan also provided specific evidence regarding housing quality and children’s health. For example, developmental issues, worsening asthma and other conditions have been tied to specific housing conditions such as pests, mold, tobacco smoke, lead exposure and so forth, and tied to long term effect with poor health outcomes.

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According to Children’s Health Watch, “unstable housing, hunger and health are linked” because evidence shows that being behind on rent is strongly associated with negative health outcomes such as high risk of child food insecurity, children and mothers who are more likely in fair or poor health, children who are more likely at risk for development delay, mothers who are more likely experiencing depressive symptoms. Research conducted by the National Housing Conference from Children’s Healthwatch illustrates that there is no safe level of homelessness. The timing (pre-natal, post-natal) and duration of homelessness (more or less than six month) compound the risk of harmful childhood health outcomes. The younger and longer a child experiences homelessness, the greater the cumulative toll of negative health outcomes, which can have lifelong effects on the child, the family, and the community.

Several community representatives spoke in support of increasing housing affordability by targeting more public funding to support housing affordability and housing stability and adding to state housing directed funds with a $2 per night fee on hotel, motel and inn stays.

 

And another thing

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This is the last grant-funded post, so we’ll try to keep it snappy, not sappy. What do we know about housing, anyway? Not a lot, but a good deal more than when we signed on to this gig 10 months ago.

For what they’re worth, we’ll leave you with a gratuitous thought and an anti-climactic ranking.endgame1

Housing can’t simply be left to the private market, any more than health care or education. It’s time for people to accept that resolving the housing-affordability crisis will require significant new governmental investment; and alleviating the socioeconomic and racial segregation that continue to stand in the way of fair housing choice, all across the country, will require concerted government intervention. Why shouldn’t the right to decent housing and fair housing choice be a public policy priority commensurate with the right to health care or the right to receive an education?

Rankings abound at New Year, so here’s one with an ancillary question: Rent or buy? 504 counties around the country are listed in order of rental affordability — that is, the percentage of local median income that’s required to pay median rent of three-bedroom apartment in that county. Also listed is the affordability percentage of a median priced home. Compare the percentages to see whether it’s more affordable to rent or buy.

No. 1 in rental affordability (or unaffordability) is Honolulu, at 73 percent. Buy. No. 505 is Huntsville, Ala., at 23 percent. Buy.

You can get  to the Excel table by clicking here.

The only Vermont county in the table is Chittenden (listed as Burlington/South Burlington). Sorry, Bellows Falls, Bennington, et al, but that’s the way of these national surveys.

Burlington/South Burlington comes in at No. 152 in rental affordability, at 40 percent. Buying affordability: 46 percent. The recommendation: Rent.

Lake Champlain Burlington, Vermont.
 

That’s despite the fact that, according to the table, the cost of a 3 BR apartment in Burlington/South Burlington went up 12.2 percent in the last year.

Sounds a little high to us (so much for the 3.3 percent figure we’ve been hearing) but again, what do we know?

Could be worse.

Daunting affordability gaps

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Here’s a seat-of-the-pants calculation that shows one dimension of Burlington’s (and Vermont’s) affordability problem for renters:

According to Vermont Housing Data, Burlington has 9,596 rental units. Of the households living in them, 61 percent are paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing — the standard threshold of unaffordability. By that standard, 5,853 rental units in Burlington are unaffordable to the people who live in them.

Lake Champlain Burlington, Vermont.

(The same source reports Vermont’s rental units at 69,581. More than half the households in those units – 52.5 percent – are paying more than 30 percent. That puts the state’s unaffordable rental units at 36,530.)

Those are just the figures for the standard housing burden. In Burlington, 35.7 percent of renters are severely burdened, paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing. That works out to 3,426 rental units that, for them, are severely unaffordable (and 18,369 such units statewide).

These are unsettling numbers, and of course there’s no easy remedy or policy panacea (although doubling public funding for affordable housing and raising the minimum wage to $15 would probably help).

Inclusionary zoning – which requires a specified percentage of units in new developments to be affordable – is among the policies that can be brought to bear. For a thorough, thoughtful treatment of the subject by Rick Jacobus, a Burlington alum, click here. He points out, among other things, that “inclusionary housing is one of the few proven strategies for locating affordable housing in asset-rich neighborhoods where residents are likely to benefit from access to quality schools, public services and better jobs.” In other words, it’s fully in keeping with the renewed national emphasis on affirmatively furthering fair housing.

He also writes that “inclusionary housing has yet to reach its full potential.” That’s an understatement in Vermont — one of 13 states that has statutes authorizing inclusionary policies that virtually no municipality except Burlington has taken advantage of – and in Burlington itself, where an inclusionary ordinance has been on the books for 25 years. Over that period, the policy has resulted in only about 260 affordable units (many of them condos).

That relatively low number reflects, in part, a lag in Burlington housing development in comparison to the rest of the county. What accounts for that, and is there any way the city’s inclusionary policy could be tweaked to make it more effective? Answers to these and other questions may be a year away. The Housing Action Plan calls for hiring a consultant to review the city’s inclusionary policy and make recommendations by next fall.