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.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott extended the state’s non-congregate sheltering program through March 2022 following the Biden administration’s decision to extend FEMA funding through April 1, 2022. Homeless advocates have been camping on the statehouse steps for the past month to protest the state’s homeless policies. Even with the new funding, however, there may be a shortage of hotel rooms. 

Updated on November 22, 2021

Governor Phil Scott announced on November 9 Vermont is extending emergency hotel housing for individuals experiencing homelessness through April 1, 2022. The announcement comes as the White House extended 100% cost reimbursement for eligible non-congregate sheltering costs through FEMA’s Public Assistance program. As of October 14, there were about 1,500 Vermonters housed under the program. Some housing advocates are urging state officials to expand the program to include everyone in need of housing and eliminate the 84-day cap on assistance.

Updated on November 15, 2021

Federal coronavirus relief funds have fueled a boom in affordable housing projects in Vermont, with more than half of those units set aside for people who are currently experiencing homelessness. Even with this infusion of federal funds, Vermont will face a shortage of affordable and available homes.

Updated on November 03, 2021

The expiration of the federal eviction moratorium on July 31 is raising concerns that thousands of Vermont residents – potentially more than 9,500 renters, according to census data from early June – could face eviction over the next two months. Vermont Public Radio reports that only 16% of the over 3,000 applications for Vermont’s emergency rental assistance program have received funds.
Updated on July 26, 2021

Vermont Public Radio reports Governor Phil Scott’s decision to end the state of emergency will impact housing and food assistance for low-income residents. Senior Vermonters, people with children, and people with disabilities will be allowed to remain in emergency motel housing for at least another three months, but more than 700 people will be forced from their state-funded hotel rooms on July 1. Currently, roughly 2,000 Vermonters are receiving emergency motel vouchers. Secretary of Human Services Mike Smith has said about half of them will lose those vouchers when the eligibility guidelines change.
June 28, 2021

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that Vermont is transitioning away from the motel housing program it operated as part of the state’s response to housing insecurity during the pandemic. About 2,295 people are living in 1,631 hotel and motel rooms across Vermont, but that number will continue to decrease due to changes to the General Assistance Housing Program. According to the Vermont Agency of Human Services, about two-thirds of households in the program will continue to be eligible 84 days after June 1 when new criteria for the program was implemented.

The VT Digger reports Governor Phil Scott’s decision to lift the state’s emergency COVID-19 order brings potential new limits on federal funding for social service programs and triggers the expiration of Vermont’s eviction moratorium 30 days later in mid-July.

June 22, 2021

FEMA awarded over $46.6 million to the Vermont Agency of Human Services for the state’s Hotel/Motel Vouchers Program for individuals in need of non-congregate shelter during the pandemic.

April 28, 2021

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

August 1, 2020

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.

July 28, 2020

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. 

July 16, 2020