Covid Ends but Problems Remain

On May 11, the CDC announced that the Covid-19 emergency has ended in the US. More than three years after the emergency was first announced, Covid affected the entire world, had lasting devasting impacts on the economy, and according to the CDC, resulted in more than 1.1 million deaths in the US alone. With the emergency declared over, a slew of non-profit funding opportunities are vanishing as well. Let’s take a look at what’s going away, what the Bennington County Coalition for the Homeless is doing about it, and where we still need help.

While the pandemic ending is a significant moment for the country and a milestone for how far we’ve come, it’s also bringing an end to funding that has benefitted many people. The funding that is drying up that most affects BCCH and the housing-insecure residents of Bennington County can be summed up intp three categories.

Food - The Vermont Foodbank had been providing food to BCCH free of cost for the last couple years. However, now that funds and resources are ending, they are renewing their fee-based services and BCCH cannot afford the thousands of dollars required to continue receiving regular food supplies from them.

Grants - BCCH was fortunate enough to receive a grant that provided discretionary funds to help us navigate Covid-19 outbreaks at the shelter. Because people who struggle with homelessness also struggle disproportionately compared to the general population with other underlying health issues - and because the vaccination rate of homeless people is as much as 25% lower - these funds were critical in helping us to manage several outbreaks during the pandemic. This funding helped us purchase cleaning supplies, gloves, masks, testing kits, plastic sheeting, and even outdoor patio furniture to facilitate social distancing. Even with all of this, we still sadly lost one of our residents to Covid in 2022.

Motel Voucher Program - Perhaps the best known form of Covid-era homelessness funding has been the hotly debated Motel Voucher Program which is set to expire in July. About 2,500 Vermonters who have been living in hotels across the state, many here in Bennington. will soon find themselves on the street when this program ends - all of this as Vermont’s housing crisis has become so severe that the US Dept of Housing and Urban Development recently revealed that Vermont has the second highest rate of homelessness in the country behind only California. While this isn’t money that directly benefitted BCCH, it has been a vital safety net for homeless residents and has provided a crucial relief valve as we’ve struggled to help record numbers of financially struggling Vermonters.

So, in the face of historic homelessness and dwindling funding, what is BCCH doing? Quite a lot, actually. BCCH is a key member of numerous workgroups working to address the problem including Project Alliance, the Housing Crisis Committee, and the Housing Solutions Committee. We’re exploring numerous options to be able to increase our own shelter capacity. At the time of this writing, we’ve applied for more than 50 grants since the start of the calendar year and have received a few, including a $4,000 mini grant from Vermonters Feeding Vermonters that will help us acquire food from local farms this summer and will partially offset the loss of food from the Vermont Foodbank. We’ve secured additional funding from the Office of Economic Opportunity, expanding our number of case managers to provide more dedicated and personalized services to our residents. We’ve worked hard to increase our accessibility within the community over the last few months, including sending out a monthly newsletter, posting more regularly on social media, and writing informative and educational articles on our website, including this one! And finally, we’ve also launched a GoFundMe to try to secure the operational funds we need to continue serving Bennington County.

Despite all of this, we are still facing a significant budgetary shortfall. If you’re interested in helping, there are a number of things you can do. First and foremost, you could make a donation to either our GoFundMe or directly through our website on the linked image above. You could also help by donating home cooked food, cleaning supplies, or one of the many items from our wishlist. We are also always open to volunteers - with a major need being someone who can help drive residents to appointments. As always, thank you for your support and interest in helping the many Vermonters in Bennington County facing homelessness now.