End Homelessness Vermont asks legislature for $611,625 to sustain disability‑focused homelessness services

Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, told the committee that the group is asking for $611,625 in the fiscal 2027 budget to sustain disability‑focused case management, service navigation, technical assistance and concrete supports for Vermonters experiencing homelessness with complex medical needs.

Siegel described End Homelessness Vermont as a lived‑experience‑led, trauma‑informed, housing‑first service that works primarily with people who have significant disabilities and medical complexities. She said the program answers a high volume of requests—more than 3,000 hotline calls in 2025—and represents clients at fair hearings more than 250 times, often as non‑attorney advocates.

The organization provided examples of client outcomes to illustrate need: a pregnant mother and two children who were kept from being forced outside while in active labor through an emergency fair hearing; and a client named Heidi who, Siegel said, moved into permanent housing after sleeping in a car when her emergency housing days were exhausted. Siegel said that in the past 14 months the program housed 80 people with complex needs, with only two returning to homelessness (one already rehoused), which she summarized as a 97.5% housing retention rate for that group.

Siegel said the requested funds would sustain—but not expand—peer‑led direct services statewide, enabling End Homelessness Vermont to answer an estimated 3,500 hotline calls annually, provide light‑touch support to about 2,500 individuals, ongoing disability services to roughly 600 people and intensive case management to about 300 clients with the highest medical needs.

In Q&A, committee members asked for documentation about the organization's fiscal sponsorship and registration; Siegel said she provided a budget breakdown and a letter from the fiscal sponsor and offered to explain the fiscal sponsorship arrangement. Legislators also asked about referral sources and service duration; Siegel said referrals frequently come from probation officers, corrections and hospitals and that supports can span months to years depending on housing availability and accessibility—she cited just over 200 wheelchair‑accessible apartments statewide as a constraint.

The hearing record shows Siegel asked the committee to support the request; no formal vote or committee action was taken during the session.

The committee recessed for lunch and planned to resume later in the day.