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Winooski student describes crowded housing, language barriers and barriers to homeownership for immigrant families
Summary
A Winooski High School student testified to the committee about the difficulties her large immigrant family experienced in crowded housing during the pandemic, language barriers with landlords and the difficulty of saving for a home in Vermont.
A Winooski High School student described living through the pandemic in a crowded three-bedroom apartment with 11 family members, telling the Senate committee that her family faced unsafe, stressful conditions and repeated rent increases that forced parents to take multiple jobs.
The student, Mappenzie (last name not provided), said her family immigrated from Zambia in March 2020 and initially relied on an assigned case manager and temporary supports. She told the committee that limited ongoing language services and difficulty communicating with landlords made resolving housing problems harder and sometimes led families to pay duplicate rent charges out of fear of eviction.
Mappenzie said the family later moved to a better apartment in 2023 but continues to face unaffordable rent. She said the scale of work parents must do to afford housing affects family life and children’s school performance. Committee members noted that refugee resettlement often includes an initial case manager and that sustained navigation or language supports may be needed beyond the early settlement period.
Committee members encouraged the student and classmates to share a capstone project on first-time homebuyer education; the student said the project is due in June. A Winooski teacher, Annie Snyder, also testified that unstable housing harms students’ ability to learn and that the district has many large families for whom standard three-bedroom units are inadequate.
