Montpelier, Vermont, City Council approves $600 monthly payment to Christ Episcopal Church for encampment support

Montpelier’s City Council approved a three-month payment of $600 per month to Christ Episcopal Church to assist with the costs of an encampment on its property. The decision was made during a Sept. 10 council meeting following a presentation on the ongoing homelessness crisis in downtown Montpelier from a local church’s perspective.

A small group of tents covered with tarps is currently located on the parking lot surrounding Christ Church’s back door, visible from the bike path and Capitol Plaza hotel. When The Bridge visited recently, clothes were hanging to dry on nearby railings, and people were sitting together. This encampment has emerged just a few hundred yards from a nearby park where it was dismantled and evacuated by city staff in August.

Rev. Dr. Walter Brownridge, Christ Church’s transitional priest, noted the number of campers has fluctuated between 12 and 20. The church granted temporary permission for people to camp there until November. Elizabeth Parker, the church’s senior warden, said seven individuals who acted inappropriately have been asked to leave and to stay away.

The arrangement involves associated costs, including trash removal, bottled water, and other necessities. Brownridge also mentioned the desire to provide laundry vouchers for campers. Volunteers, including Parker and Zack Hughes, a congregation member and co-chair of the Homelessness Task Force, oversee the encampment.

Brownridge, along with Parker and Hughes, requested $600 per month for three months to cover expenses such as trash bags, cleaning supplies, laundry vouchers, bottled water, and a portable toilet rental. “These are not luxuries, but simple things that, for people living outside in tents, we might need,” Brownridge said. He acknowledged some congregation members are uncomfortable with the situation, while others support it. He emphasized that there is no other place for the encampment dwellers to go.

Brownridge described the situation as “most critical” and highlighted the need for a compassionate response to a vulnerable population.

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