( – promoted by odum)

Yes, Virginia, sadly to say there are people living houseless (i.e., more commonly referred to as homeless) and even some sleeping outside within the state of Vermont during this holiday season.

Unfortunately it appears Santa is not able to manage to carry what these people need within his sleigh in order to help them find and maintain the affordable housing they need.

Nor does there seem to be the will or leadership among any of the major political parties of the state (i.e., Democrats, Republicans or Progressives) to do anything meaningful or lasting other than to pay lip service to this problem faced by those Vermonters who are among the most in need.

When they do talk about a fix of one sort or another, usually it is about placing people who are living homeless in the type of housing that they would probably not choose if they were ever faced with houselessness: i.e., transitional housing or some other form of supported (read: institutional) housing — typically with lots of strings attached most people would never want to agree to in order to have a place of their own to live.

Apparently homeless shelters are about the best the state can seem to manage and, even then they nickle and dime them, mostly because people most in need within our state are too far down the food chain to care enough about when it comes to the making of priorities and then actually doing something about it.

In fact, this morning’s edition of the Barre – Montpelier Times Argus includes a must-read article penned by David Gram, an Associated Press Writer for the Vermont Bureau, which profiles people living homeless within the state that helps to illustrate how [h]omelessness is not just an urban problem, here (Sunday, December 24, 2006).

Yes, Virginia, while you and many others are enjoying this holiday season in one form or another, there are those who are barely getting by and whom do not have much more than dreams of a better future for presents.

Yet, please do not fret my dear Virginia, as when the new year arrives you and nearly everyone else can find comfort in forgetting about such souls since there are more important things to be concerned about as always, so continued deliberate indifference is the best course of (in)action, just like it has been the stock of trade year after year.

So make sure to enjoy the presents, family gatherings, holiday feasting and your nice warm, safe housing that most are conveniently able to take for granted.

Happy Holidays Virginia!

It’s been a big year, with lots of political news. We’ve seen Douglas keep his seat as governor, the D’s increase their majorities in the House and Senate, the national D’s take control of the House and Senate, and Vermont D’s leading the way in the impeachment initiative.

I’m sure there’s a lot more that I’m not mentioning, but this is a start to tee up this subject. We’ve never had a Vermonter of the Year here at GMD before (mainly because we didn’t exist before), but at the close of 2006, if GMD were to name a Vermonter of the Year, who should it be?

 Loading ...