Vermont

NLIHC has estimated a need for no less than $100 billion in emergency rental assistance and broke down the need and cost for each state (download Excel spreadsheet). 

In response to COVID-19 and its economic fallout, many cities and states are creating or expanding rental assistance programs to support individuals and families impacted by the pandemic, and NLIHC is tracking in-depth information on these programs.  

You can use the interactive map and searchable database to find state and local emergency rental assistance programs near you. You can also see the latest news on rental assistance programs through the state-by-state news tracker. Note that this is not a comprehensive list of all rental assistance programs as we continue to update frequently. If you are aware of a program not included in our database, please contact [email protected]. 

COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs

Across the country, homeless service providers are struggling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to follow public health guidelines and help ensure people’s safety, some shelters are being forced to reduce services, restrict admittance, or close entirely. The loss of these critical resources puts people experiencing homelessness at even higher risk of illness. Check NLIHC's cumulative list of shelter closings.

Below is a list of shelters that have had to majorly alter services or completely close:

No information at this time.

The Burlington Free Press reports that the second round of Vermont’s COVID-19 rental assistance program is underway. The Vermont State Housing Authority launched a new website for the Vermont Emergency Rental Assistance Program on April 6.

Updated on April 17, 2021

Over 2,700 individuals experiencing homelessness are being housed in hotels and motels across Vermont, and state officials say this will continue for the duration of the public health emergency.

Updated on March 31, 2021

VTDigger examines how Vermont’s allocation of CARES Act funds could yield long-term, sustainable benefits for Vermonters experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.

Updated on November 17, 2020

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger announced ANEW Place has used $2.5 million of Coronavirus Relief Funds to purchase the Champlain Inn and convert it into a year-round homeless shelter. ANEW Place will also provide guests with onsite services, including case management and assistance finding permanent housing. ANEW Place is Burlington’s only low-barrier shelter. 

The deadline to apply to the Vermont State Housing Authority (VSHA) Rental Housing Stabilization Program is December 11. Check out this summary of programs that can help Vermonters remain housed. 

Updated on November 4, 2020

An estimated 1,400 households applied for rental assistance in the first two weeks of Vermont’s $25 million rental assistance program. Advocates expect that applications will increase as the federal supplemental insurance benefit expires.

Updated on August 4, 2020.

Vermont’s COVID-19 Rental Housing Stabilization Program is now accepting applications. Homeowners seeking mortgage assistance will apply through the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, and tenants and landlords must submit applications through the Vermont State Housing Authority.

Updated on July 20, 2020.

Governor Phil Scott signed on July 2, H.966, a COVID-19 relief bill that includes $25 million in aid for landlords. “H.966 is an absolutely critical piece of legislation to make funding available to both for-profit and nonprofit property owners,” said Erhard Mahnke, coordinator for the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, an NLIHC state partner.

Updated on July 13, 2020.

The Vermont Digger examines life inside the South Burlington Holiday Inn, which is temporarily housing people experiencing homelessness amid the pandemic. Vermont is now working on how to transition the hundreds of people who have been temporarily staying in hotels.

Updated on July 7, 2020.

The Virginia Supreme Court issued an order on June 22, allowing courts to resume eviction hearings on June 29, the day after the state’s eviction ban expires. An additional order issued on June 22 permits courts to resume eviction hearings unrelated to nonpayment of rent immediately.

The executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless hopes that the new funding sources created in response to COVID-19 will create opportunities for Charlottesville nonprofits to address the underlying causes of homelessness. The organization is considering purchasing a hotel to temporarily house people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic and then transition the property into permanent housing. 

Updated on June 29, 2020.

A new report from the Center for Global Health Equity at Dartmouth, “COVID-19 and Rural Health Equity in Northern New England: Impacts on Health Equity,” revealed key strengths in the rural region’s response to the coronavirus. In a New Hampshire Public Radio interview, the authors discussed why the report focused on housing and what the study found concerning housing and homelessness. “We heard reports of the tremendous effort that was put into play to identify and also to house individuals who became homeless within the context of the pandemic, particularly in Vermont,” said Elizabeth Carpenter-Song, one of the report’s authors.

Updated on June 29, 2020.

The Vermont House advanced the Broadband, Connectivity, and Housing Bill (H. 966) on June 19, bringing the total amount of Coronavirus Relief Funds appropriated by the House in the past week to nearly $1 billion. Combined with Senate Bill 350, which was signed by Governor Phil Scott on June 19, the Vermont Legislature has approved $91 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to address housing and homelessness.

Shelterforce examined how Vermont and the Champlain Housing Trust have protected people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic by remaining flexible, responding quickly, and effectively repurposing space for quarantine.

Updated on June 22, 2020.

The Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness reported that 1,110 Vermonters experienced homelessness on a one-day count on January 22, 2020. As of the end of May, 1,489 people were residing in state-funded General Assistance motels. 

Vermont’s Office of Economic Opportunity is working with local organizations to find permanent, affordable housing for people currently residing in hotels. Vermont may have to rely on shelters as reopening begins and the hotel voucher system expires, but the goal is to find permanent housing for those experiencing homelessness. Governor Phil Scott’s proposed COVID-19 recovery package, which needs to be approved by the Legislature, includes $42 million in rental arrearage assistance and $8 million for the state’s rehousing recovery fund.

Updated on June 12, 2020.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott proposed $50 million in housing assistance as part of the state’s $400 million COVID-19 response package. The plan includes $42 million in direct rental assistance and an $8 million housing rehabilitation program. The program will provide up to three months of rental assistance, and more than 13,000 households could benefit from the program. 

Vermont housing advocates are urging state officials to quickly allocate the $1.25 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to support people experiencing homelessness by issuing Vermont Rental Vouchers. Federal funds should be used to provide rental assistance and supportive services to prevent homelessness as well as the capital to acquire, renovate, and build permanent housing. 

Burlington is looking to establish a low-barrier site for people experiencing homelessness this summer as temporary sites established during the pandemic begin to close. The North Beach Campground where campers were set up will close this week, and Vermont shut down a site at a Holiday Inn last week.

In an op-ed in the Vermont Digger, Vermont Representatives Tom Stevens and John Killacky outlined policy solutions to establish a more integrated housing system in the state. The pandemic demonstrated that Vermont can provide housing for people experiencing homelessness, and now there is a need to build upon that recent success.

The director of the Northeast Kingdom Community Action, a social services agency that is now managing four shelter sites across the region, discussed how the pandemic has revealed the extent to which Northeast Kingdom residents are experiencing housing insecurity. The Northeast Kingdom Community Action is one of 20 organizations that the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition chose to award a portion of its $100,000 grant from NLIHC.

Vermonters are working to isolate members of the state’s homeless population with COVID-19 symptoms.

South Burlington has set up campers as housing for individuals who are homeless to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. In addition, the city is sheltering at-risk individuals in hotels.  

Federal, state, and local eviction moratoriums are rapidly expiring and the CARES Act supplemental unemployment benefits will end soon; at that time, millions of low-income renters will be at risk of losing their homes. The NLIHC estimates at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance is needed to keep low-income renters stably housed during and after the pandemic. This tracker links to news reports of the growing evictions crisis in various cities and states. Check NLIHC's cumulative list of eviction updates.

All evictions are paused during the state of emergency as declared by the governor, which is currently set to expire Aug. 15. The Legislature passed and the governor signed a bill that went into effect on May 14, preventing eviction filings in the case of nonpayment or 'no cause' until 30 days after the eviction moratorium.  Landlords cannot initiate evictions by serving a notice to quit, instead must file with the Civil Division of the Superior Court, which will only issue a compliant to the tenant 30 days after the emergency order ends. If the landlord files an eviction for breaking the lease or violating a rule, cases can proceed as soon as the emergency order expires. 

Updated: August 1

In the third week of July, 12.3% of adults in Vermont reported they had missed their previous housing payment or had little confidence they would make their next one on time, according to a weekly survey conducted by the Census. In the same survey, 13,775 renters reported they had not paid their previous rental payment.

Updated: July 28

According to a weekly Census survey, 18, 651 renters in Vermont reported they had not paid their June rent, with an additional 867 indicating they had deferred their June rent. 

Updated: July 16