Vermont spent over 3 million dollars last year on motel vouchers for homeless families in desperate need of shelter. The Vermont Digger has just published a multimedia investigation into life in these stopgap shelters.
From the story:
"Some of the motels the state uses, including the Barre Budget Inn, are unsafe and unsanitary. That plastic on the mattress? It’s to entomb the bed bugs.
Local officials in Barre also found loose wires, piles of trash and holes in the walls at the Knoll Motel, Hollow Inn and Budget Inn. Police in Rutland respond five days a week to the Economy Inn and Suites, where voucher recipients often create disturbances."