During the pandemic, Daniel Luttrel heard a lot about how Vermont was renting rooms at hotels and motels to shelter people. And he heard that the state was using a lot of money to do it. So, he asked: “Can’t we just buy them?”

Reporter Liam Elder-Connors digs into Vermont’s motel housing program, and learns that Daniel’s question has been asked by everyone from housing advocates to those in charge of the motel program itself. He also meets current and former motel residents to get a better sense of the impact this program has had on one of Vermont’s most vulnerable populations.

Find the web version of this story here.

Liam Elder-Connors reported this episode, and it was produced by Josh Crane and Sabine Poux. Additional support from Sophie Stephens. Angela Evancie is Brave Little State’s executive producer. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

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Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.