Chandra Duba has been living in an RV outside a friend’s house in Jericho for the past few months, after losing her Section 8 subsidized housing in Winooski. Until last week, she didn’t have electricity, but now she’s able to plug into a nearby solar array.
Duba, 50, works as a delivery driver at Domino’s, where her pay with tips is too high for food stamps but too low for rent in the area, she said. The RV was relatively affordable but partially gutted — the stove is gone, and the heating and cooling systems don’t work.
Duba said she is grateful to have a roof over her head but that she doesn’t see the vehicle as a long-term answer to her housing problem.
“This isn’t really a home,” she said.
Housing advocates in Vermont say a lack of resources allocated to combat homelessness appears to be resulting in a rising number of people living in vehicles in some areas of the state. Data released last week showed an increasing proportion of people experiencing homelessness are living unsheltered statewide, which includes people sleeping in vehicles.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development defines unsheltered homelessness as people staying in spaces that are not adequate as regular sleeping accommodations. This can include cars, or camper vans without access to basic amenities.
Sarah Russell, Burlington’s special assistant to end homelessness, said 22 households living in cars had accessed the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity’s on-site resources in July. That number represents a roughly 30% increase from June but is only a loosely representative sample of the actual population of individuals living in their cars.
Russell drew connections between this jump and the current status of the state’s motel program, which saw hundreds forced to exit stable housing on July 1. She called the 80-day limits restricting the duration of motel stays “insufficient.”
Frank Knaack, the executive director of the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, emphasized that this upward trend in Vermonters sleeping in their vehicles does not represent progress in his organization’s efforts.
“We should not be thinking that people sleeping in their car is a solution,” he said.
Duba said her rent responsibility was complicated in Winooski — she had taken in an acquaintance who was experiencing homelessness, as well as housing her own son and a family friend. The state changed its calculation about how much she and her guests owed several times, and also informed her she had not properly submitted her level of income for consideration. Ultimately, her vouchers were revoked.
She said she has spent months searching for an affordable apartment or a roommate, and that getting to work without a car can be tricky and expensive.
Duba, who has a degenerative joint condition and severe injuries to her back and knees, said it can sometimes be difficult to maneuver in and out of the RV without help. Duba lives with her dog Brutus, who she said enjoys exploring the field around the camper but has sometimes been chilly at night.
Duba said she will likely need to find a new place to stay before winter.
“I can handle it because I like being cold,” she said. “But I worry about my dog.”
For people staying in vehicles, Russell said, seasonal shifts can be dangerous. Temperatures can become unsafe, but leaving a vehicle running can be equally so. Last winter, at least one person was admitted to a Chittenden County hospital multiple times for carbon monoxide poisoning, Russell said.
Once someone starts living in a vehicle without a permanent address, Knaack added, it can be harder to get back on their feet and can limit options for finding work, succeeding in school and connecting with the local community.
“There’s just no stability,” Knaack said.
When Carrie Currier moved to Vermont in her car in May, she stayed in Bennington as long as she could.
“I really liked the area, but it was difficult,” she said.
She and her two dogs were staying in a parking lot outside a Walmart, alongside several others in a similar situation. Currier had her SUV but no money for gas, and the town was so spread out that she couldn’t get to the soup kitchen or food bank on foot.
“If you can’t get there, you can’t really get any help,” she said, adding that she went without food for almost a week until her Supplemental Security Income came in.
“I didn’t know anybody, and nobody really reached out to me,” she said.
Currier said she’s currently living in Maine, where someone has offered to let her stay near their house. She plans to apply for a direct home loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development division.
Local leaders are uncertain about what short-term solutions are appropriate for people in Currier’s situation. Burlington is considering a free safe parking program that would set aside certain monitored spots for people living in their vehicles. A previous pilot program was paused after public threats were made online against the participating households.
“It’s important for us to be able to provide safe options for people as a harm reduction model while we wait for permanent housing to come online for them,” Russell said.
Duba did not participate in the Burlington parking program but said she has repeatedly experienced judgement and hostility from locals.
“I just want people to understand what kind of things homeless people are going through,” she said.
