A group of nonprofits reported a spike this year in the number of homeless people living in Chittenden County.
January’s annual “point in time” event, when volunteers track the number of people spending the night in cars, on the streets or in emergency shelters, tallied 359 homeless people, according to the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance, which released the figures on Friday. That’s a 19 percent increase from 2017, when volunteers counted 291 homeless individuals.
The increase comes after the number of homeless people had declined for two consecutive years from a 2015 high of 471. The alliance counted 332 homeless people in 2016.
The spike could have been influenced by cold weather on the night of the count, according to Margaret Bozik, who works for Champlain Housing Trust and serves as cochair of the homeless alliance. More homeless people sought shelter that night, making it easier for volunteers to tally the numbers, she said.
Nonetheless, the size of the increase was unexpected, Bozik said, and the alliance called it a “cause for concern.”
The rise was driven largely by an increase in homeless single adults in shelters, according to a release from the alliance. Meanwhile, the number of homeless families and the number of people spending the night outside decreased.
The overall numbers of homeless individuals across the state decreased by two, from 934 to 932, according to Bozik.
Housing organizations such as Bozik’s CHT have long had trouble finding a reliable way to measure progress. The weather on the night of the count can affect the totals, Bozik said. Year to year, the number of volunteers fluctuates, and the way data is collected and tallied isn’t always standardized. Bozik said she didn’t known how many of the homeless individuals counted were also tallied the year before.
The homeless alliance is working on creating a master list database that would allow service agencies to enter information year-round for more up-to-date totals, Bozik said. But for now, the point in time numbers will have to do.
“It’s the most reliable data we have,” she said.
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It goes to show that the mayor is not working for the homeless people to get low-income housing but is leaving it up to the shelters to make room for them to stay. He could care less about their problems as long as he is on the good side of his rich friends. He should have been voted out this last time as he is doing nothing about this problem!
The mayor could care less about their problems
Progressive/regressive leadership will always attract those who cannot/will not make it on their own. Duh!!!
How can the mayor worry about low-income housing or the homeless when his mind is on making Burlington into another NYC. The highrise, the huge mall comes first screw the people not his problem. nothing to be seen here move on…..
Someone who works with poor people told me that there is enough shelter for all the homeless–including those with the signs at the supermarket parking exits who beg for donations. Those people won’t go into shelters because they don’t want to give up their addictions. They can’t get into the shelters if they’re f–ed up. So remember next time you hand over cash to these guys you are enabling them to get high. It is that simple. You might feel good about yourself, that you’ve given some relief to a poor person, when in fact you just bought an alcoholic a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20. Congratulations!
@BDE
“It’s so sad that wealthier folks don’t care more about this problem. I guess the less one can identify, the less one cares. Wouldn’t it be great if every wealthy person built a tiny house for a homeless person. Financially it wouldn’t really even be noticeable to them.”
You might want to look into who are the donors to COTS. You might be surprised that their biggest contributors are the wealthy people in Burlington.
While you are at it why don’t you bring some of homeless into your home.
I have an idea…. drum roll, please… Why don’t Leahy, Welch, and Sanders (who has 4 homes and a condo) let the homeless into their homes? Let’s not forget these legislators too, why can’t they let the homeless into their homes.. They say they care about them.? PROVE IT. !!! Not all homeless people are addicts. There are families with children who are homeless, who lost their job (seeing Vt is not business friendly) cost of living is outrageous, and like it or not, if you are an illegal/refugee, they will get free stuff, homes, jobs, medical all kinds of stuff before a homeless or a Veteran will.. Think about that !!!!
I agree with Donna and BDE, the establishment and the government say they care about the people but that is all b.s. What are they doing right now but nothing, the only ones who do anything for them is Cots but they can only do so much!!
Close all the government-run mental health facilities and put delusional psychotic helpless people on the streets. What could possibly go wrong?