EHVT In The News
Cold comfort? Unhoused advocates say more support needed during frigid weather- Pat Bradley, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, 2/9/26
"For nearly a month in the fall of 2021, End Homelessness Vermont Executive Director Brenda Siegel slept outside on the Capitol steps in Montpelier to protest the state’s intention to end a hotel-motel general assistance program. 'When we stayed out there it got as cold as 19 degrees, so nothing close to the life-ending temperatures that we’ve experienced in the last few weeks. And it’s important to note that we had lots of supplies and that is not the experience of people who are living on the street. Their risks are much, much higher than ours were on the steps and even still I got sick.'”
Lawmakers working on homeless program bill hear from Vermonters who've lived it - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Rutland Herald 2/2/26
“'We have had nowhere to live for about four years. We’ve applied for every apartment that we can. We’ve stayed connected to services and we continue to keep our medical appointments with our providers,” he said. “This past spring, we were denied medical vulnerability under the Governor’s executive order, and I don’t know what we would have done if we didn’t find End Homelessness Vermont.' End Homelessness Vermont is a statewide nonprofit that helps people experiencing homelessness find housing and services."
Extreme cold shelter opens in Burlington as temperatures drop - Jackson Stoever, NBC5, 1/29/26
"Like CVOEO, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, Brenda Siegel, said the need for these pop-up emergency shelters is part of a bigger problem. 'I think it's really important to note that it creates a lot more work for providers and advocates across the state to get people into shelter, rather than if they were in shelter in the first place. The work that providers are doing is incredible across the state, and it's still not enough,' Siegel said."
New plan for Vermont homelessness would largely end the use of motel rooms - Carly Berlin, Vermont Public, 1/14/26
"Advocates for unhoused Vermonters have begun to register their concerns with policymakers’ direction. Brenda Siegel, director of End Homelessness Vermont, said she’s particularly concerned about a renewed focus on people from out of state using Vermont benefit programs... 'What it says is: We don’t want poor people here. And that is a really big problem,' she said."
Free meals available in Burlington during the holiday season - Jackson Stoever, NBC5, 11/25/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said anyone can stop in to dine with their community this holiday season, even if you have a meal at home. 'Its important that its not just on Thanksgiving that we come together for people who are hungry or for people that are experiencing homelessness, but that our community shows up in the same way throughout the entire year and for every single day,' Siegel said. End Homelessness Vermont just launched their Make it Home project, a statewide effort to help the homeless get housed."
End Homelessness Vermont's Statement on Mass Shooting at Encampment in Minneapolis - Times Argus, 10/2/25
“'It is alarming to me that there has been almost no public statements or outrage in the wake of this mass shooting', Said Executive Director, Brenda Siegel, 'We can not allow ourselves as a country or as a state to dehumanize people for any reason and certainly not on the basis of living with a disability or economic status. I fear that the stigmatization of people experiencing homelessness that has been fed right here at home and across the country, could lead to more violence and harm directed at these valuable residents of our state and citizens of our country.'”
Supreme Court Denies State's Motion To Stay That Would Have Left Many In The Cold - Theo Wells-Speckman, 9/30/25
“'It seems that we’ve lost sight of what the purpose of this (program) is,' Siegel said, 'which is to help human beings to be safe and be sheltered.'”
HSB Grants Relief for Homeless Vermonters - Times Argus, 8/21/25
“'This ruling will save many of our clients' lives', said Brenda Siegel, Executive Director. 'This has been one of the most challenging times in our work. To see our clients on oxygen, with muscular dystrophy, with babies, in wheelchairs and more sent to attempt survival outside. Our staff at End Homelessness Vermont as well as Legal Aid have both been working tirelessly to argue on behalf and beside these vulnerable Vermonters.'”
Homelessness and mental health advocates warn against taking federal approach - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Times Argus, 8/19/25
"As she’s done many times before, Siegel called on Gov. Phil Scott to take steps to ensure all Vermonters are housed and to reverse course on actions she said has directly led people to becoming unhoused. Siegel said that Trump followed up the July executive order by calling up National Guard forces to be deployed to Washington, D.C., to combat what he claims is 'widespread lawlessness.'"
State appeals motel voucher time limit decision to Vermont Supreme Court - Theo Wells-Spackman, VTDigger, 8/13/25
"Hundreds of people could gain emergency housing through such petitions, according to Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont.
Her organization is working on about 40 ongoing cases related to the issue, she said, adding 'that’s just a small fraction of the people who this impacts.'
According to Siegel, some medically vulnerable people who lost housing July 1 have already died, while others have gone without food for long stretches to try and keep a roof over their heads. 'It’s a big deal,' Siegel said. 'This emergency shelter is life-saving.'”
Op-Ed: End Homelessness Vt. shares outrage at data-sharing decision - Brenda Siegel, Waterbury Roundabout, 8/8/25
'"As someone who very recently stopped receiving SNAP benefits and was previously in the GA Program, living with disabilities,' said Shelby LeBarron with End Homelessness Vermont. 'This act makes it feel to me and our clients like we will only ever be seen in the light of our poverty. It makes it difficult to trust that personal information we give the state will be kept private.'”
Governor Scott responds to criticism over SNAP data release to the Trump Administration - Pat Bradley, WAMC, 8/7/25
"The state is breaching the privacy rights of low-income Vermonters enrolled in SNAP, according to End Homelessness Vermont Executive Director Brenda Siegel. She contends the state attorney general was prepared to join a lawsuit challenging the federal demand and that Governor Scott should have let that scenario unfold."
Vermont Care Partners react to Trump Administration’s executive order on homelessness - VT Business Magazine, 8/6/25
"As our communities grapple with worsening homelessness, rising overdose deaths, and growing mental health needs, the response must be one of care and solidarity, not exclusion and institutional harm. We align with and support End Homelessness Vermont’s response to this executive order and reaffirm our commitment to home and community-based solutions, high-quality substance use and mental health care, and full inclusion of people with disabilities."
Vermont reacts to Trump executive order on homelessness - Mark Rondeau, Brattleboro Reformer, 7/28/25
“The safety of our fellow Vermonters is at risk,” said Executive Director Brenda Siegel, in a statement. “Without immediate action by our state, the most vulnerable Vermonters will be subject to a systematic loss of their civil liberties and autonomy. As an organization that works primarily with people living with disabilities, we are very concerned that our clients’ rights are at immediate risk."
Annual Vermont Homeless Report shows number of unsheltered people increased significantly - Alexis Crandall, NBC5, 7/21/25
"Brenda Siegel, the executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said the power is in Gov. Phil Scott's hands. 'The reality is that there are lots of solutions. The solutions have been put on the table time and time again,' Siegel said. 'We have put forward purchasing motels. We have put forward coming up with tiny homes and other temporary and permanent solutions for people's housing and shelter. There are solutions, but we need the political will to execute those solutions.'"
Local groups concerned about new executive order on homelessness - Alexis Crandall, NBC5, 7/21/25
"'We all become a target fairly quickly if we're targeting people who don't have anywhere to go,' said Brenda Siegel, the executive director of End Homelessness Vermont."
Winooski parking garage to get new security system this fall - Jackson Stoever, NBC5, 7/14/25
"'The approach involves getting people support and help rather than just criminalizing them. In some communities, we're seeing criminalization, and I would expect Winooski not to do that, and that's what we're seeing,' said executive director of End Homelessness Vermont Brenda Siegel."
Not exiting into stability': What advocates seek as hotel-motel program ends - Sydney P. Hakes, Burlington Free Press, 7/9/25
"'These are children, children on nebulizers, individuals on oxygen, facing kidney or heart disease or are homebound,' said Executive Director of End Homelessness Vermont Brenda Siegel. 'Since September, 6.1% of high-need clients have died outside. This is a policy choice.'"
One week later: Advocates for Vermont's homeless call for change - Keith Whitcomb Jr., Times - Argus, 7/8/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said she had 60 clients who qualified as disabled per Scott’s executive order leave the GA program last week. 'What we saw last Tuesday was the most horrifying thing I have ever seen our state do in terms of exits,' she said."
A place to care for one another - Rye O'Brien & Jeff Potter, The Commons, 7/8/25
"End Homelessness Vermont had volunteers in every county in the state helping clients on July 1. 'What I saw on Tuesday was the worst thing in humanity I have ever seen our state execute in my life,' Siegel says. 'This was cruelty at its highest level.'"
'We need a prayer': As executive order ends, hundreds of Vermonters exit motels - Carly Berlin & Greta Solsaa, Vermont Public, 7/1/25
"At the Econo Lodge in Rutland Tuesday morning, Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, offered supplies for people exiting the motel voucher program like tents, sleeping bags, blankets and tarps that the organization had purchased.
End Homelessness Vermont and other emergency providers have been 'repetitively drained' after each motel exit, Siegel said. The need around the state far outweighs the resources the organization has available to give to the unhoused, she said. 'Their likelihood of survival is not high. I think they should at least have the right to get to and through a fair hearing to appeal this,' Siegel said. 'Our system is failing, because it really means that it’s impossible for people to argue for their rights, and that’s not what should be happening right now. We should have a system that works.'”
As hotel vouchers end, disabled Vermonters look to living on streets - Keith Whitcomb Jr., Rutland Herald, 7/1/25
“This is a terrible day,” said Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, as she brought about a dozen tents and as many sleeping bags into the EconoLodge lobby. “We definitely don’t have enough sleeping bags.” Siegel said she was going around to the hotels, as she has in the past, handing out items for sleeping outside and trying to help people secure whatever housing they can get. Some people, Siegel said, planned to rent their rooms like a normal hotel for a few more days, but many don’t have the funds and are medically disabled. She said she fears individuals will die if they have to sleep outside. Some, she said, are wheelchair-bound or need others to take care of them."
Medically vulnerable Vermonters in hotel-motel program hit deadline - Ike Bendavid, WCAX, 7/1/25
"Housing advocates continue to push back, saying people on the street will only cost the state more money in the end. 'There’s a concern for funding, but it’s not less expensive to unshelter people. That money, that cost, just gets shifted to providers and to municipalities and to emergency services. This is going to cost more money,' said Brenda Siegel."
Many Vermont motel emergency housing program participants lose rooms - Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer, 7/1/25
"Isaac Evans-Frantz of Brattleboro called the unsheltering 'the result of a policy decision by Vermont Gov. Phil Scott that may cause some of our neighbors to die.' Evans-Frantz serves on the Brattleboro Select Board, is executive director of the national organization Action Corps and volunteers with End Homelessness Vermont."
Anti-homelessness advocates continue to urge Vermont to change course before July 1 - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Times-Argus, 6/25/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said Wednesday that her organization and others are still urging Gov. Phil Scott to change course over decisions impacting the General Assistance Emergency Housing Program (GA program)."
"Siegel said she’s working with a number of households who are appealing this decision to the Human Services Board. She said the people currently in the program are among the most medically vulnerable, some unable to move without assistance, and that they won’t be able to live outside."
Advocates for homeless cry foul over limits - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Rutland Herald, 6/18/25
“I’d like to begin by saying that I have stood in this place over and over again warning about these exits, warning about the catastrophic outcomes that come each time we send people to live outside, warning about the highly medically vulnerable people that have been included in each exit,” said Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, outside the State House steps on Tuesday. “We have stood here far too many times than we should ever have had to but today there is a stark and alarming difference.” “Every one of them is someone who the governor’s administration knows about, knows how vulnerable they are, and still he is choosing to send them to try and survive in predicted sweltering heat, and later in blistering cold,” said Siegel.
Advocates plead with Gov. Phil Scott to extend motel eligibility for families and those with acute medical needs - Carly Berlin, VT Digger, 6/17/25
“'Every one of the people being exited is in a category that the governor himself has deemed would struggle to survive outside,' said Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont. 'These are people who are homebound, who require assistance from a wheelchair or walker to leave the house.'”
Hundreds of ‘most vulnerable’ households to lose emergency shelter as governor’s order expires - Carly Berlin, VT Digger, 6/13/25
"To Brenda Siegel, an advocate with End Homelessness Vermont, the state’s effort to winnow down which unhoused people count as the most vulnerable was already unconscionable. But evicting this group that officials have deemed the most at risk of harm if unsheltered is worse. 'After identifying them, the first next move is going to be to send them to live outside,' Siegel said. 'That is just horrifying for our state to do.'”
Reaction to Gov. Scott’s veto of new homelessness program - myChamplainValley.com, 6/12/25
"The group called End Homelessness Vermont says it would give more power to local communities by creating regional committees made up housing coalitions, shelter providers, state officials, and those who have experienced homelessness...Siegel says the bill shouldn’t have been a surprise...'the governor was in the room every single step of the way in making H.91. To end in a veto is not acceptable.'”
Scott vetoes Vermont hotel-motel shelter bill - Ben Breen, myChamplainValley.com, 6/11/25
"Tamara Hodge, also of End Homelessness Vermont, said she could not understand the state’s lack of progress on homelessness issues. 'As someone with lived experience and who was recently sheltered in the hotels, I can not believe the unawareness of this administration to appropriately care for those most vulnerable.'"
Scott Vetoes Bill That Would Have Revamped Hotel Program - Kevin McCallum, Seven Days, 6/11/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness VT, said in a statement she was 'deeply disappointed.' 'Governor Scott has spent years complaining about the GA hotel/motel program, but continuously leaves no other option but this program for our most vulnerable Vermonters,' she wrote."
Gov. Phil Scott vetoes motel program overhaul - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 6/11/25
“'Throughout the coming years, Vermonters will lose access to their permanent housing vouchers due to upheaval in Washington and inhumane policies,' wrote Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, in a statement. 'Governor Scott has left vulnerable Vermonters with no options, no solution and no hope.'”
Gov. Scott poised to weigh in on lawmakers’ hotel-motel fix - Calvin Cutler, WCAX, 6/6/25
"Homeless advocates like Brenda Siegel say the bill navigates a middle-of-the-road approach in how the state would deal with homelessness. It would move who administers the program and its funding from the state government to five regional nonprofit community action agencies. It would allow for there to be flexibility and creativity in how people’s needs are met, it also would better ensure people are getting the service supports that they need, she said."
Court-ordered agreement gives prior notice to hotel-motel recipients losing benefits - WCAX, 5/16/25
“'This is something that really allows them to have that important information in advance, and it recognizes that these are human beings that are in this program, these are our neighbors and our community members and they deserve the same due process that everyone deserves,' said Brenda Siegel with the group End Homelessness Vt."
Judge orders state to give motel voucher recipients more notice before evicting them - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 5/1/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said the order is a victory. 'This is a huge win for people who are in the hotel/motel program, and certainly for our clients who have been being denied without notice and exited pretty regularly in the last couple of weeks,' she said."
Emergency motel housing ends for more participants - Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer, 4/2/25
"Isaac Evans-Frantz, a member of the Brattleboro Select Board who's volunteering with End Homelessness Vermont, said he spoke with another man exiting a room Tuesday with no tent or sleeping bag. Evans-Frantz described area agencies being "maxxed out," busy supporting their clients."
End of winter motel season means hundreds of unhoused people must move out - Carly Berlin & Elodie Reed, VTDigger, 4/1/25
“'This is really creating a lot of last-minute chaos,” said Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont. “While I am grateful that some people will be protected…this order is not an order that’s made in such a way that is actually humane,”' she said."
When Homelessness and Disability Intersect - Stan Grossfeld, Boston Globe, 5/15/24
"...there are advocates who are trying to help. One is Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont...In 2021 Siegel slept on the Vermont State House steps for 27 nights to support sheltering all people in need."
“'People living with disabilities are not falling through the cracks, they are being hurled into the canyon,' says Siegel..."
"For nearly a month in the fall of 2021, End Homelessness Vermont Executive Director Brenda Siegel slept outside on the Capitol steps in Montpelier to protest the state’s intention to end a hotel-motel general assistance program. 'When we stayed out there it got as cold as 19 degrees, so nothing close to the life-ending temperatures that we’ve experienced in the last few weeks. And it’s important to note that we had lots of supplies and that is not the experience of people who are living on the street. Their risks are much, much higher than ours were on the steps and even still I got sick.'”
Lawmakers working on homeless program bill hear from Vermonters who've lived it - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Rutland Herald 2/2/26
“'We have had nowhere to live for about four years. We’ve applied for every apartment that we can. We’ve stayed connected to services and we continue to keep our medical appointments with our providers,” he said. “This past spring, we were denied medical vulnerability under the Governor’s executive order, and I don’t know what we would have done if we didn’t find End Homelessness Vermont.' End Homelessness Vermont is a statewide nonprofit that helps people experiencing homelessness find housing and services."
Extreme cold shelter opens in Burlington as temperatures drop - Jackson Stoever, NBC5, 1/29/26
"Like CVOEO, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, Brenda Siegel, said the need for these pop-up emergency shelters is part of a bigger problem. 'I think it's really important to note that it creates a lot more work for providers and advocates across the state to get people into shelter, rather than if they were in shelter in the first place. The work that providers are doing is incredible across the state, and it's still not enough,' Siegel said."
New plan for Vermont homelessness would largely end the use of motel rooms - Carly Berlin, Vermont Public, 1/14/26
"Advocates for unhoused Vermonters have begun to register their concerns with policymakers’ direction. Brenda Siegel, director of End Homelessness Vermont, said she’s particularly concerned about a renewed focus on people from out of state using Vermont benefit programs... 'What it says is: We don’t want poor people here. And that is a really big problem,' she said."
Free meals available in Burlington during the holiday season - Jackson Stoever, NBC5, 11/25/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said anyone can stop in to dine with their community this holiday season, even if you have a meal at home. 'Its important that its not just on Thanksgiving that we come together for people who are hungry or for people that are experiencing homelessness, but that our community shows up in the same way throughout the entire year and for every single day,' Siegel said. End Homelessness Vermont just launched their Make it Home project, a statewide effort to help the homeless get housed."
End Homelessness Vermont's Statement on Mass Shooting at Encampment in Minneapolis - Times Argus, 10/2/25
“'It is alarming to me that there has been almost no public statements or outrage in the wake of this mass shooting', Said Executive Director, Brenda Siegel, 'We can not allow ourselves as a country or as a state to dehumanize people for any reason and certainly not on the basis of living with a disability or economic status. I fear that the stigmatization of people experiencing homelessness that has been fed right here at home and across the country, could lead to more violence and harm directed at these valuable residents of our state and citizens of our country.'”
Supreme Court Denies State's Motion To Stay That Would Have Left Many In The Cold - Theo Wells-Speckman, 9/30/25
“'It seems that we’ve lost sight of what the purpose of this (program) is,' Siegel said, 'which is to help human beings to be safe and be sheltered.'”
HSB Grants Relief for Homeless Vermonters - Times Argus, 8/21/25
“'This ruling will save many of our clients' lives', said Brenda Siegel, Executive Director. 'This has been one of the most challenging times in our work. To see our clients on oxygen, with muscular dystrophy, with babies, in wheelchairs and more sent to attempt survival outside. Our staff at End Homelessness Vermont as well as Legal Aid have both been working tirelessly to argue on behalf and beside these vulnerable Vermonters.'”
Homelessness and mental health advocates warn against taking federal approach - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Times Argus, 8/19/25
"As she’s done many times before, Siegel called on Gov. Phil Scott to take steps to ensure all Vermonters are housed and to reverse course on actions she said has directly led people to becoming unhoused. Siegel said that Trump followed up the July executive order by calling up National Guard forces to be deployed to Washington, D.C., to combat what he claims is 'widespread lawlessness.'"
State appeals motel voucher time limit decision to Vermont Supreme Court - Theo Wells-Spackman, VTDigger, 8/13/25
"Hundreds of people could gain emergency housing through such petitions, according to Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont.
Her organization is working on about 40 ongoing cases related to the issue, she said, adding 'that’s just a small fraction of the people who this impacts.'
According to Siegel, some medically vulnerable people who lost housing July 1 have already died, while others have gone without food for long stretches to try and keep a roof over their heads. 'It’s a big deal,' Siegel said. 'This emergency shelter is life-saving.'”
Op-Ed: End Homelessness Vt. shares outrage at data-sharing decision - Brenda Siegel, Waterbury Roundabout, 8/8/25
'"As someone who very recently stopped receiving SNAP benefits and was previously in the GA Program, living with disabilities,' said Shelby LeBarron with End Homelessness Vermont. 'This act makes it feel to me and our clients like we will only ever be seen in the light of our poverty. It makes it difficult to trust that personal information we give the state will be kept private.'”
Governor Scott responds to criticism over SNAP data release to the Trump Administration - Pat Bradley, WAMC, 8/7/25
"The state is breaching the privacy rights of low-income Vermonters enrolled in SNAP, according to End Homelessness Vermont Executive Director Brenda Siegel. She contends the state attorney general was prepared to join a lawsuit challenging the federal demand and that Governor Scott should have let that scenario unfold."
Vermont Care Partners react to Trump Administration’s executive order on homelessness - VT Business Magazine, 8/6/25
"As our communities grapple with worsening homelessness, rising overdose deaths, and growing mental health needs, the response must be one of care and solidarity, not exclusion and institutional harm. We align with and support End Homelessness Vermont’s response to this executive order and reaffirm our commitment to home and community-based solutions, high-quality substance use and mental health care, and full inclusion of people with disabilities."
Vermont reacts to Trump executive order on homelessness - Mark Rondeau, Brattleboro Reformer, 7/28/25
“The safety of our fellow Vermonters is at risk,” said Executive Director Brenda Siegel, in a statement. “Without immediate action by our state, the most vulnerable Vermonters will be subject to a systematic loss of their civil liberties and autonomy. As an organization that works primarily with people living with disabilities, we are very concerned that our clients’ rights are at immediate risk."
Annual Vermont Homeless Report shows number of unsheltered people increased significantly - Alexis Crandall, NBC5, 7/21/25
"Brenda Siegel, the executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said the power is in Gov. Phil Scott's hands. 'The reality is that there are lots of solutions. The solutions have been put on the table time and time again,' Siegel said. 'We have put forward purchasing motels. We have put forward coming up with tiny homes and other temporary and permanent solutions for people's housing and shelter. There are solutions, but we need the political will to execute those solutions.'"
Local groups concerned about new executive order on homelessness - Alexis Crandall, NBC5, 7/21/25
"'We all become a target fairly quickly if we're targeting people who don't have anywhere to go,' said Brenda Siegel, the executive director of End Homelessness Vermont."
Winooski parking garage to get new security system this fall - Jackson Stoever, NBC5, 7/14/25
"'The approach involves getting people support and help rather than just criminalizing them. In some communities, we're seeing criminalization, and I would expect Winooski not to do that, and that's what we're seeing,' said executive director of End Homelessness Vermont Brenda Siegel."
Not exiting into stability': What advocates seek as hotel-motel program ends - Sydney P. Hakes, Burlington Free Press, 7/9/25
"'These are children, children on nebulizers, individuals on oxygen, facing kidney or heart disease or are homebound,' said Executive Director of End Homelessness Vermont Brenda Siegel. 'Since September, 6.1% of high-need clients have died outside. This is a policy choice.'"
One week later: Advocates for Vermont's homeless call for change - Keith Whitcomb Jr., Times - Argus, 7/8/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said she had 60 clients who qualified as disabled per Scott’s executive order leave the GA program last week. 'What we saw last Tuesday was the most horrifying thing I have ever seen our state do in terms of exits,' she said."
A place to care for one another - Rye O'Brien & Jeff Potter, The Commons, 7/8/25
"End Homelessness Vermont had volunteers in every county in the state helping clients on July 1. 'What I saw on Tuesday was the worst thing in humanity I have ever seen our state execute in my life,' Siegel says. 'This was cruelty at its highest level.'"
'We need a prayer': As executive order ends, hundreds of Vermonters exit motels - Carly Berlin & Greta Solsaa, Vermont Public, 7/1/25
"At the Econo Lodge in Rutland Tuesday morning, Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, offered supplies for people exiting the motel voucher program like tents, sleeping bags, blankets and tarps that the organization had purchased.
End Homelessness Vermont and other emergency providers have been 'repetitively drained' after each motel exit, Siegel said. The need around the state far outweighs the resources the organization has available to give to the unhoused, she said. 'Their likelihood of survival is not high. I think they should at least have the right to get to and through a fair hearing to appeal this,' Siegel said. 'Our system is failing, because it really means that it’s impossible for people to argue for their rights, and that’s not what should be happening right now. We should have a system that works.'”
As hotel vouchers end, disabled Vermonters look to living on streets - Keith Whitcomb Jr., Rutland Herald, 7/1/25
“This is a terrible day,” said Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, as she brought about a dozen tents and as many sleeping bags into the EconoLodge lobby. “We definitely don’t have enough sleeping bags.” Siegel said she was going around to the hotels, as she has in the past, handing out items for sleeping outside and trying to help people secure whatever housing they can get. Some people, Siegel said, planned to rent their rooms like a normal hotel for a few more days, but many don’t have the funds and are medically disabled. She said she fears individuals will die if they have to sleep outside. Some, she said, are wheelchair-bound or need others to take care of them."
Medically vulnerable Vermonters in hotel-motel program hit deadline - Ike Bendavid, WCAX, 7/1/25
"Housing advocates continue to push back, saying people on the street will only cost the state more money in the end. 'There’s a concern for funding, but it’s not less expensive to unshelter people. That money, that cost, just gets shifted to providers and to municipalities and to emergency services. This is going to cost more money,' said Brenda Siegel."
Many Vermont motel emergency housing program participants lose rooms - Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer, 7/1/25
"Isaac Evans-Frantz of Brattleboro called the unsheltering 'the result of a policy decision by Vermont Gov. Phil Scott that may cause some of our neighbors to die.' Evans-Frantz serves on the Brattleboro Select Board, is executive director of the national organization Action Corps and volunteers with End Homelessness Vermont."
Anti-homelessness advocates continue to urge Vermont to change course before July 1 - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Times-Argus, 6/25/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said Wednesday that her organization and others are still urging Gov. Phil Scott to change course over decisions impacting the General Assistance Emergency Housing Program (GA program)."
"Siegel said she’s working with a number of households who are appealing this decision to the Human Services Board. She said the people currently in the program are among the most medically vulnerable, some unable to move without assistance, and that they won’t be able to live outside."
Advocates for homeless cry foul over limits - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Rutland Herald, 6/18/25
“I’d like to begin by saying that I have stood in this place over and over again warning about these exits, warning about the catastrophic outcomes that come each time we send people to live outside, warning about the highly medically vulnerable people that have been included in each exit,” said Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, outside the State House steps on Tuesday. “We have stood here far too many times than we should ever have had to but today there is a stark and alarming difference.” “Every one of them is someone who the governor’s administration knows about, knows how vulnerable they are, and still he is choosing to send them to try and survive in predicted sweltering heat, and later in blistering cold,” said Siegel.
Advocates plead with Gov. Phil Scott to extend motel eligibility for families and those with acute medical needs - Carly Berlin, VT Digger, 6/17/25
“'Every one of the people being exited is in a category that the governor himself has deemed would struggle to survive outside,' said Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont. 'These are people who are homebound, who require assistance from a wheelchair or walker to leave the house.'”
Hundreds of ‘most vulnerable’ households to lose emergency shelter as governor’s order expires - Carly Berlin, VT Digger, 6/13/25
"To Brenda Siegel, an advocate with End Homelessness Vermont, the state’s effort to winnow down which unhoused people count as the most vulnerable was already unconscionable. But evicting this group that officials have deemed the most at risk of harm if unsheltered is worse. 'After identifying them, the first next move is going to be to send them to live outside,' Siegel said. 'That is just horrifying for our state to do.'”
Reaction to Gov. Scott’s veto of new homelessness program - myChamplainValley.com, 6/12/25
"The group called End Homelessness Vermont says it would give more power to local communities by creating regional committees made up housing coalitions, shelter providers, state officials, and those who have experienced homelessness...Siegel says the bill shouldn’t have been a surprise...'the governor was in the room every single step of the way in making H.91. To end in a veto is not acceptable.'”
Scott vetoes Vermont hotel-motel shelter bill - Ben Breen, myChamplainValley.com, 6/11/25
"Tamara Hodge, also of End Homelessness Vermont, said she could not understand the state’s lack of progress on homelessness issues. 'As someone with lived experience and who was recently sheltered in the hotels, I can not believe the unawareness of this administration to appropriately care for those most vulnerable.'"
Scott Vetoes Bill That Would Have Revamped Hotel Program - Kevin McCallum, Seven Days, 6/11/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness VT, said in a statement she was 'deeply disappointed.' 'Governor Scott has spent years complaining about the GA hotel/motel program, but continuously leaves no other option but this program for our most vulnerable Vermonters,' she wrote."
Gov. Phil Scott vetoes motel program overhaul - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 6/11/25
“'Throughout the coming years, Vermonters will lose access to their permanent housing vouchers due to upheaval in Washington and inhumane policies,' wrote Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, in a statement. 'Governor Scott has left vulnerable Vermonters with no options, no solution and no hope.'”
Gov. Scott poised to weigh in on lawmakers’ hotel-motel fix - Calvin Cutler, WCAX, 6/6/25
"Homeless advocates like Brenda Siegel say the bill navigates a middle-of-the-road approach in how the state would deal with homelessness. It would move who administers the program and its funding from the state government to five regional nonprofit community action agencies. It would allow for there to be flexibility and creativity in how people’s needs are met, it also would better ensure people are getting the service supports that they need, she said."
Court-ordered agreement gives prior notice to hotel-motel recipients losing benefits - WCAX, 5/16/25
“'This is something that really allows them to have that important information in advance, and it recognizes that these are human beings that are in this program, these are our neighbors and our community members and they deserve the same due process that everyone deserves,' said Brenda Siegel with the group End Homelessness Vt."
Judge orders state to give motel voucher recipients more notice before evicting them - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 5/1/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said the order is a victory. 'This is a huge win for people who are in the hotel/motel program, and certainly for our clients who have been being denied without notice and exited pretty regularly in the last couple of weeks,' she said."
Emergency motel housing ends for more participants - Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer, 4/2/25
"Isaac Evans-Frantz, a member of the Brattleboro Select Board who's volunteering with End Homelessness Vermont, said he spoke with another man exiting a room Tuesday with no tent or sleeping bag. Evans-Frantz described area agencies being "maxxed out," busy supporting their clients."
End of winter motel season means hundreds of unhoused people must move out - Carly Berlin & Elodie Reed, VTDigger, 4/1/25
“'This is really creating a lot of last-minute chaos,” said Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont. “While I am grateful that some people will be protected…this order is not an order that’s made in such a way that is actually humane,”' she said."
When Homelessness and Disability Intersect - Stan Grossfeld, Boston Globe, 5/15/24
"...there are advocates who are trying to help. One is Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont...In 2021 Siegel slept on the Vermont State House steps for 27 nights to support sheltering all people in need."
“'People living with disabilities are not falling through the cracks, they are being hurled into the canyon,' says Siegel..."
Other Relevant Stories
Vermont lawmakers push ‘accountability’ model in H.594 to rein in $2.7M monthly motel costs and homelessness crisis - VT Daily Chronicle, 1/16/26
(OPINION) Maryellen Griffin: Evictions cause homelessness. We can’t afford more. - VT Digger, 1/26/26
Community remembers Morgan Brown, advocate for unhoused Vermonters - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 12/17/25
“'He just wanted people to feel belonging that he did not feel while he was living outside,' said Brenda Siegel, director of End Homelessness Vermont and a friend of Brown’s."
Burlington secures funding for 1st-of-its-kind recovery shelter in the city - Abigail Saxe, WCAX3, 12/16/25
Vermont joins lawsuit against Trump admin homelessness policy - My Champlain Valley, Ben Breen, 11/25/25
Homeless People in Burlington Prepare for Cold Winter - Courtney Lamdin, Seven Days, 11/12/25
Voices from City Hall Park: Being homeless in Burlington - Nora Sissenich, The Vermont Cynic, 10/8/25
Appeals mount over 80-day motel limit as Vermont Supreme Court allows board decision to stand for now - Theo Wells-Spackman, VTDigger, 9/30/25
Vermont towns try new model to tackle overlapping issues of crime, addiction and homelessness - Liam Elder-Connors, Vermont Public, 9/22/25
Montpelier City Council aims to fund mental health outreach for homeless population - Laura Ullman, WCAX3, 8/13/25
Vermont Legal Aid claims victory in appeals case over hotel program eligibility - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Times Argus, 8/8/25
‘This isn’t really a home’: As some unhoused Vermonters turn to sleeping in vehicles, advocates push for long-term solutions - VTDigger, Theo Wells-Spackman, 8/6/25
Unsheltered homelessness spikes in Vermont as need outstrips safety net - Carly Berlin, VTDigger/Valley News, 7/31/25
Vermont This Week - How can the state best support homeless Vermonters? - Vermont Public, 7/18/25
Burlington sets up free overnight parking for homeless on the waterfront - Michael Donoghue, Vermont Daily Chronicle, 7/2/25
Phil Scott remains silent on session’s biggest homelessness bill as it heads to his desk- Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 5/30/25
Vermont Senate approves bill that would end Hotel-Motel Voucher Program - WCAX, 5/22/25
Advocates denounce lawmakers’ decision to keep motel program limits - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 5/6/25
(OPINION) Frank Knaack: How to address Vermont’s housing and homelessness crises - VT Digger, 4/22/25
"This is a humanitarian crisis and requires immediate action by the governor."
Bill that would replace Vermont's hotel-motel program moves from House to Senate-Keith Whitcomb Jr, Rutland Herald, 4/4/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said she was disappointed to hear the administration’s criticism, as it’s a plan that everyone can get behind to get people out of homelessness. 'While I don’t think it’s perfect, I think this is a step in the right direction, to get this program into the hands of experts and out of harmful, and arbitrary rules and policies,' she said."
Legislative lawyer calls Phil Scott’s executive order on motels unconstitutional - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 4/2/25
(OPINION) Maryellen Griffin: Evictions cause homelessness. We can’t afford more. - VT Digger, 1/26/26
Community remembers Morgan Brown, advocate for unhoused Vermonters - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 12/17/25
“'He just wanted people to feel belonging that he did not feel while he was living outside,' said Brenda Siegel, director of End Homelessness Vermont and a friend of Brown’s."
Burlington secures funding for 1st-of-its-kind recovery shelter in the city - Abigail Saxe, WCAX3, 12/16/25
Vermont joins lawsuit against Trump admin homelessness policy - My Champlain Valley, Ben Breen, 11/25/25
Homeless People in Burlington Prepare for Cold Winter - Courtney Lamdin, Seven Days, 11/12/25
Voices from City Hall Park: Being homeless in Burlington - Nora Sissenich, The Vermont Cynic, 10/8/25
Appeals mount over 80-day motel limit as Vermont Supreme Court allows board decision to stand for now - Theo Wells-Spackman, VTDigger, 9/30/25
Vermont towns try new model to tackle overlapping issues of crime, addiction and homelessness - Liam Elder-Connors, Vermont Public, 9/22/25
Montpelier City Council aims to fund mental health outreach for homeless population - Laura Ullman, WCAX3, 8/13/25
Vermont Legal Aid claims victory in appeals case over hotel program eligibility - Keith Whitcomb Jr, Times Argus, 8/8/25
‘This isn’t really a home’: As some unhoused Vermonters turn to sleeping in vehicles, advocates push for long-term solutions - VTDigger, Theo Wells-Spackman, 8/6/25
Unsheltered homelessness spikes in Vermont as need outstrips safety net - Carly Berlin, VTDigger/Valley News, 7/31/25
Vermont This Week - How can the state best support homeless Vermonters? - Vermont Public, 7/18/25
Burlington sets up free overnight parking for homeless on the waterfront - Michael Donoghue, Vermont Daily Chronicle, 7/2/25
Phil Scott remains silent on session’s biggest homelessness bill as it heads to his desk- Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 5/30/25
Vermont Senate approves bill that would end Hotel-Motel Voucher Program - WCAX, 5/22/25
Advocates denounce lawmakers’ decision to keep motel program limits - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 5/6/25
(OPINION) Frank Knaack: How to address Vermont’s housing and homelessness crises - VT Digger, 4/22/25
"This is a humanitarian crisis and requires immediate action by the governor."
Bill that would replace Vermont's hotel-motel program moves from House to Senate-Keith Whitcomb Jr, Rutland Herald, 4/4/25
"Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said she was disappointed to hear the administration’s criticism, as it’s a plan that everyone can get behind to get people out of homelessness. 'While I don’t think it’s perfect, I think this is a step in the right direction, to get this program into the hands of experts and out of harmful, and arbitrary rules and policies,' she said."
Legislative lawyer calls Phil Scott’s executive order on motels unconstitutional - Carly Berlin, VTDigger, 4/2/25
