As his few remaining hours with a place to live ticked by last Thursday, Scott Alexander panhandled near a McDonald’s in Brattleboro, in southern Vermont, while running through a mental checklist of the supplies he would need for a move back into the woods nearby.
He had a tent and sleeping bags for himself and his wife, a propane stove and a heater.
But he needed tarps and propane, and in two hours of holding his battered cardboard sign — “Any Act of Kind Greatly Appreciate” — he had made only $3.
“It feels like a countdown,” Mr. Alexander, 41, said as he eyed the storm clouds gathering overhead.
“I’ll be up all night, trying to get ready.”In the progressive bastion of Vermont, it was a point of pride that the state moved most of its homeless residents into hotel rooms during the coronavirus pandemic, giving vulnerable people a better chance of avoiding the virus.
Persons:
Scott Alexander panhandled, ”, Mr, Alexander, I’ll
Locations:
Brattleboro, Vermont