The Homelessness Task Force typically meets every other Wednesday 
at 11:30 AM in the City Council Chambers of City Hall and on Zoom.

The Montpelier City Council created a Homelessness Task Force in August of 2019 as a response to growing concern for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

The Montpelier Homelessness Task Force is has been charged with updating the Council on the following:

• Creative, collaboratively developed short-term ideas and/or solutions to improve conditions for people experiencing homelessness
• Policy recommendations and concrete ideas for longer-term structural and systems improvement that the City could implement, along with a preliminary budget and timeline for duration of work and implementation

Ideas and recommendations should be supported by data that includes:

• Information regarding the scope of homelessness in Montpelier and the needs of people experiencing homelessness in Montpelier
• The systems currently in place in our region to address homelessness
• The range of concerns, perceived barriers, and potential solutions identified by the community
• Existing strategies in other cities or states, recognizing that the location of our city requires solutions that are responsive to our changing seasons

Members

• Staff Rep: City Manager Bill Fraser 
• Council Rep: Jennifer Morton & Conor Casey
• Ken Russell, Chair
• Rick DeAngelis
• Will Eberle
• Zack Hughes
• Ericka Reil
• Dawn Little
• Diane Mathews

Request for Proposals! Project Consultant to Identify the Needs of Unhoused in Central Vermont

For details click here.

City of Montpelier Encampment Response Policy

The September 22, 2021 Council Approved Encampment Response Policy is available to read here.

Policy Summary: The City of Montpelier and its staff shall take a general non-involvement approach to any found emergency sleeping camp sites, with the particular lens of not criminalizing people creating shelter due to a lack of housing. Staff will intervene and ask encampments to relocate if they are found in “high-sensitivity areas” meeting specific environmental, health, and safety criteria as outlined in this policy. Staff shall offer to connect people sleeping in “high-sensitivity areas” to any available overnight shelters (a public or private shelter, with an available overnight space, for an individual experiencing homelessness, at no charge).

City of Montpelier Lockers for those Experiencing Homelessness 

The Homelessness Task Force and members of our community experiencing homelessness have been advocating for publicly accessible lockers, and on April 27th, the Montpelier City Council voted to approve installing 12 lockers behind the City’s Recreation Center on a 6 month trial-basis. This project was also approved by the City’s Design Review Committee on February 22nd 2022. 

Project Updates: 

• May 31st 2022: City Staff have received the lockers and have created an installation plan. We are waiting for staff capacity to install- date will be soon. **The City will not be accepting applications for lockers until they are fully installed**

Program Administration: 
The Homelessness Task Force and City Staff worked on the Locker Terms of Service. In general, all lockers will be locked by numbered City-provided padlocks. Residents who would like to use a locker would need to sign-up through the City Manager’s office, they would then receive a key to open an assigned lock/locker. 

In general, the Locker Terms of Service covers the following:

• Locker use timeline- the lockers can be used for up to 3 months by an individual before requiring renewal 
• How the City will deal with any abandoned items
• Outlines that there will be no storing perishables, food, food waste, alcohol, drugs, or illegal items 
• The policy outlines that lockers are subject to being searched as necessary 

Supporting Documents:

1.Locker Terms of Service (Application Document)