Small Business Funding

From giving out food to funding hotel rooms, several churches in Montpelier have filled in the gap where the state hasn’t, to help people who are unhoused.”What do we have to offer as churches? Because, what if we don’t do this? You know, why do we even gather together as a congregation? This is what we are supposed to be doing,” said Beth Ann Maier, a Deacon at Christ Episcopal Church in Montpelier. After hundreds of people were exited from the state’s general assistance housing program, multiple churches in Montpelier put out appeals to their congregations to fundraise for efforts to support unhoused people.”We’ve talked with people who sometimes they come from out of state, but most are Vermonters and they’ve had a piece of bad luck, whether it’s a medical problem or losing jobs or family separation or addiction,” said Peter Thoms, a member and volunteer at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier. Right now they support predominantly families with children, but extend resources wherever else they are needed.”We all know that we are in a major crisis around housing and homelessness and that the needs are greater than what we can supply with what is on the market now in terms of shelter and housing. And I think all of us need to be thinking more creatively and more compassionately about what we have to offer,” said Rev. Joan Javier-Duval.The families they support were either members of the church, referred to them by service providers or people who attend the daily scheduled lunches the churches serve.”And these are still people, many people who are sleeping outside. Anything we can do to provide them the dignity and the space to survive under those conditions, we should be doing as a community,” said Maier.Starting back in September, the churches negotiated a cost with local hotels to pay $70 per night per family across 4 different hotels in Montpelier, Barre, Berlin and Rutland.”We thought that the governor should step forward and declare an emergency and help people. The state really needs to do what it possibly can in this situation. We’re not going to solve the housing problem in the next two months. No question about it,” said Thomas. Most of the churches are still recovering after 2 years of flood damage. However, officials said it’s not stopping their mission to serve the community.”You know, church is not a building. It is people whose core belief is that we need to care for each other. It is one of the few gathering places that still exist in our communities is in churches. There aren’t a lot of spaces where people are able to gather, form relationships and then look for support and offer support,” said Maier.