(cross-posted from Vermont Watch, here)

Ongoing efforts concerning seriously as well as meaningfully addressing homelessness within Vermont:

Yours truly has been serving on two different subcommittees concerning the Vermont Intergency Council on Homelessness (VICH).

One concerns the VICH and the drafting of a new executive order. Four of us met once three weeks ago and, among other things oftentimes passionately discussed during the meeting, we commissioned one of our members to draft a version for us to get started on. We had agreed to continue our work via e-mail from there on out rather than meeting in person again. Received the initial draft this evening and, for my part, I have gone over it and suggested a version built and crafted from the original draft. There will of course be much more work done to it before it is ready to be presented to those attending the next VICH meeting as well as later on to the administration.

The other subcommittee I am serving on concerns the 10-year plan for ending homelessness. This subcommittee had its initial meeting two weeks ago and had even more people around the table for a long and productive discussion as well. There is another meeting of this particular subcommittee coming up on September 1st, however since it is being held in Waterbury and I do not have transportation and am disinclined to go begging for rides, will not be able to attend it.

There is a VICH meeting also being held in Waterbury afterwards, yet because I just received word there will be the means to attend it via video conferencing at various sites across the state including Barre, it looks like I will be able to be present for that one. Had not been able to attend the last VICH meeting in person, but did so via phone and that means does not really work so well, thus I think the video conferencing should improve things quite a bit.

Although much of this is taking place deep behind the scenes and is happening somewhat slowly with a lot more hard work ahead, it is my belief that we are on course to have good proposals to move forward with which to present to the administration in time for them to consider well prior to what they might put forward to the state legislature upon their return next January (2012).