Burlington, Vermont’s mayor and local officials welcomed the regional director of Housing and Urban Development – HUD – to the city Tuesday to tour a shelter pod community being set up for homeless residents.
The Elmwood Emergency Shelter Community is being erected on a city owned parking lot about two blocks from Burlington’s downtown. The 60- to 120-square foot cubicles include electricity, heating and air conditioning and a bunk for sleeping. Restrooms and shower facilities will be in a separate on-site building as will a community and counseling center.
Juana Matias is HUD New England Regional Administrator.
“In Region 1, the six New England states which I oversee, this is the first POD model that I’ve seen. I think you’ve seen a lot of re-purposing hotels to meet the need. And hopefully we can see other communities and cities take this on. And we know, right, this is temporary. The goal should be permanent and I loved hearing about wrap-around services. We know that our homeless individuals are facing mental health, substance abuse, behavioral needs. And so making sure we have a one-stop shop here to meet those needs and get people into permanent housing is the ultimate goal.”
Matias was also visiting to promote HUD’s House America initiative, a national partnership with mayors, county and tribal leaders, and governors to use American Rescue Plan Act funds to address homelessness.
Mayor Weinberger said the HUD Initiative matches the priorities of the city’s action plan to increase housing stock and end chronic homelessness in the city by 2025.
“I’ve always believed that our housing shortage and the dramatic increase in homelessness that we’ve seen in recent decades are really problems that are driven by long standing policy decisions about land use, about mental health and about how we create our institutions. And these are policies that we can fix. So that’s why nearly a year ago now I announced a new 10-point action plan to fulfil the promise of housing as a human right here in Burlington. And the HUD House America partnership is very much aligned and really on point with those priorities.”
Matias said Burlington’s efforts to prioritize homelessness highlight what is possible through the House America initiative.
“Burlington has stepped up to the challenge and surpassed their original goals by not only preserving their current stock of affordable units but also developing new units and making sure we have a pipeline to meet the need. We know that housing is fundamental to ensuring thriving communities and economic prosperity. We must constantly continue to find ways to align the federal, state and local government to induce policies that reduce housing costs so we can ensure more affordable rents, more attainable equitable home ownership opportunities within our communities.”
Burlington committed to HUD’s House America program to re-house 66 homeless households in 2022. Between May and September 108 households in Chittenden County were placed in permanent housing.
