Health Assurance, anyone?

This week at my local public library, I had the misfortune of overhearing two white men (50s or older) discussing our current crisis of unhoused neighbors. They were using that politically incorrect term, “homeless”, and loudly proclaiming their beliefs:

— Homeless in central Vermont are people who “came from out of state to VERMONT because we have better services here…”

— They are “un-rehabilitate-able drug users”

—Good Samaritan (A regional nonprofit) told the Montpelier city council that they cannot absorb the homeless when those hotel vouchers run out

— WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT MONTH WHEN THE HOTEL VOUCHERS RUN OUT?

The last thing I heard (before leaving the library in disgust and grabbing my noise canceling headphones from the car) was most ironic. One of these two pompous assholes had actually come to VERMONT himself and been helped by the Good Samaritan organization.

Last I checked, statistics on unhoused Vermonters looked like this:

— In December 2023, vermont had the second highest rate of unhoused people in the US

— VERMONT has had more than two episodes of catastrophic flooding since summer of 2023 and many people left without housing back in July 2023 have still not found permanent, affordable homes more than a year later.

— in December 2023, 643 children were experiencing homelessness; an increase of 36% over the previous year.

— The number of building permits issued for new homes has stagnated at 2,300/year from 2020 through 2023

(info from https://vhfa.org/news/blog/rate-homelessness-vermont-remains-2nd-highest-us-2023)

—"88% of the 1,110 homeless Vermonters were White, 6% WERE BLACK less than 1% were Asian, and 5% were another race or multiple races. Vermont’s population as a whole is just 6% non-White, making non-White individuals overrepresented among its homeless population. BLACK VERMONTERS ARE ESPECIALLY OVERREPRESENTED, making up barely 1% of Vermont’s overall population.”   

(from https://vhfa.org/news/blog/vermont-housing-needs-assessment-reveals-racial-disparities)

This entire situation makes me truly sick at heart; I myself was unhoused for seven months back in 2022 and it was a terribly stressful and challenging time. My personal response is to strategize what I can do as an individual and what I can encourage my communities to do.

So I am blogging, here.

And I’m getting back in the game as a “wandering minstrel of health assurance.” My retired doctor status leaves me with a lot of really useful information at my finger tips. I have a personal enthusiasm to share that information with people in my community from all ranks and levels of privilege.

We are all stakeholders in this crisis. What are you personally able to offer? What creative next steps do you have?

I will be downtown at the Christ Church courtyard on State Street, Mondays at 11 AM. Just before the community meal offered charitably by the Montpelier U. U. Church.

Let's strategize, not just pontificate.