[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 145 (Wednesday, November 14, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6791-S6792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO RITA MARKLEY
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, homelessness is not something found only in
large urban areas or that is isolated to city limits; it is just as
easily found in small towns and rural areas. Vermont, like the rest of
the Nation, struggles each day with homelessness. It is estimated that
in any given year, there are 4,000 homeless Vermonters, and on any
given night, children, as well as adults, find refuge in a shelter.
The Committee on Temporary Shelter, known in Vermont as COTS, has
been serving the homeless in Chittenden County since 1982. While COTS
relies on the talents of more than 60 dedicated staff members, it is
the tireless leadership of their executive director, Rita Markley, that
is the heartbeat of this critically important organization.
I have been so proud of the work of Rita and COTS in their service to
the people of Chittenden County. During her time with COTS, Rita has
worked tirelessly to provide emergency shelter to those in need, while
advocating for long-term solutions to end homelessness. Beyond
providing emergency shelter for those in need, COTS' prevention program
extends a crucial safety net for those on the brink of losing their
homes.
Under Rita's leadership more than 100 families found shelter through
COTS in 2011, including 115 parents and 122 children. Since 2008, COTS'
prevention program has helped 1,264 people to stay in their apartments
and has stopped 55 foreclosures.
Rita is known throughout Vermont for her overwhelming generosity,
tireless determination, and sharp sense of humor. She truly embodies
the Vermont spirit, dedicating herself to helping her neighbors and
reminding us that we are all in this together. Vermont is truly lucky
to call Rita Markley one of our own.
I ask unanimous consent that a copy of an article from September 20,
2012, entitled, ``Innovation, and passion, in the nonprofit world,''
from The Burlington Free Press, be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Burlington Free Press, Sept. 20, 2012]
Innovation, and Passion, in the Nonprofit World--Rita Markley of COTS
Talks About the Importance of Partnerships in a World of Great Need,
Limited Funds
(By Lynn Monty)
Work is missed when children get sick. Gas for trips to the
doctor's office is costly. Rent payments become late, and
medical bills loom. Homelessness strikes after a long list of
setbacks in a person's life . . . a family's life.
Unforeseen expenditures happen to everyone, but when they
come about on a fixed income it can cause a domino effect of
devastation. Financial insecurity has plagued households
nationwide since the economic downturn, and Burlington is no
exception.
Rita Markley, 53, of Burlington knows all too well what our
community has had to endure. She is executive director of the
Committee on Temporary Shelter, where she's tasked daily with
providing distressed people with emergency shelter and
services, but her ultimate goal is to find long-term
solutions to end homelessness altogether.
More than a hundred families stayed in COTS shelters in
2011. This included 115 parents and 122 children. An average
of 53 people a day used the COTS Daystation, the only drop-in
center for homeless adults in Chittenden County, before a
storm flooded the Daystation in July.
Among her myriad responsibilities, and scrambling to find a
new home for the much needed community resource before snow
flies, surprisingly, Markley finds time to laugh.
Humor is part of the fuel she needs to forge ahead, to
build community partnerships, and to get through tough times.
``You might as well have fun while you are doing what you
do,'' she said. ``Laughter is a way to connect, and you feel
better when you laugh. It makes you feel alive.''
We spoke to Markley about these philosophies, her life and
her innovations at the nonprofit in an interview at her North
Avenue office on Sept. 5. A fuller version of this interview
is available online at BurlingtonFreePress.com.
Burlington Free Press: What does an average day look like
for you at COTS?
Markley: Very few days look the same. That's what I love
about this job. Some days it's meetings with community
partners, other days is brainstorming with staff, writing
reports, looking at our numbers. I stay in touch with the
people we serve. I advocate to fix problems that put
ridiculous burdens on struggling families.
In the past five weeks, I've been running to every last
corner of Burlington looking for a new Daystation.
Our whole approach isn't about how we help the homeless,
that is the wrong premise, it's about how we can end
homelessness. What can we do so that 20 years from now people
don't need shelters in the first place?
BFP: What fuels your passion?
Markley: It's an underlying belief that everybody has
infinite promise, and potential, and that they deserve a
chance to try to reach that.
I spent the first five years of my life in an orphanage. I
know I would be a very different person today without the
volunteers who would come and rock the babies and read to us.
They came three or four times a week to make us feel loved
and special. I think I would have been one of those kids who
could have otherwise fallen through the cracks, or given up,
before I had even stepped out the door.
I was very lucky to be adopted by the Markleys. It was a
privileged household, but I remember well what holidays are
like when you don't have a home, like the home you read about
in storybooks. Or when you feel embarrassed because of the
fact you are an orphan.
When I think of the kids there, I still remember their
names. I remember who we were and how much useful creativity,
imagination and joy every single one of us had. We were
encouraged when we could have been shut down. The volunteers
and staff there really cared about what they were doing, and
launched us into lives that became meaningful.
I know when you don't get the opportunities for college and
travel and exposure that I was given by the Markleys, you can
start out with that bright shining light, and it gets darker
and darker as each year passes by, and you stop believing
that there are better things that are possible for you. This
underlies everything that I am.
I have never been a woe-is-me kind of person. I believe in
joy, touching that joy, and touching what is most wonderful
in humans who have the capacity to care about each other when
we don't have to. There is no reason that most of the
volunteers need to come to a place like COTS every day, but
they do because they can't bear the idea that somebody is
going to sleep in a car, or not have a chance without their
support.
BFP: How would Burlington be different without COTS?
Markley: I believe in working toward a world where
everybody gets a chance. A lot of the work and the way we do
things at COTS is driven from the principles of finding that
strength, that spark, to help people believe again that more
is possible for them than simply a shelter bed and hoping
they will have enough food day to day. To help them see that
you cannot only survive, but have a rich life.
Without the work we do every day, Burlington would be a
place with shelter upon shelter upon shelter with people
never getting out in front of it. It takes so long to save
for a security deposit, especially when you are only bringing
in $400 a week or less. We help people with this.
In 2008, COTS launched an innovative new prevention program
with $250,000 that we had been fundraising since 2005. We got
tired of
[[Page S6792]]
seeing so many people miss paying rent because the alternator
on their car went, or had to miss work because of a sick
child. Homelessness is often the result of this unraveling.
The trajectory was so clear. Incomes were flat, or going
down, and rents were going up. Utilities were skyrocketing,
gasoline was going up, and it was a housing market where if
you lose your place, there are 10 other people who want it.
We saw this and started raising money.
Our goal in mind was to keep families whole, helping them
keep in good financial standing and to regain their footing.
We kept 293 families in their homes that first year.
Since 2008, COTS' prevention program has helped 1,264
people stay in their apartments and stopped 55 foreclosures.
We break their fall.
Far more people than you see now would be sleeping in
doorways without our services. There would be far more
children without a fixed address. Even with this successful
homeless prevention program in place, we still have people
becoming homeless at a quicker rate than we can break their
fall.
BFP: What sustains this organization?
Markley: The community sustains this organization. The
people who come out to contribute time and money have such a
profound impact on so many lives. The amazing thing about
COTS is the people who come out to support it.
They are the ones who make sure no one in our community is
without a safe, warm place to go during the worst of times.
What sustains us is the belief that we are so much more
together than we are alone.
It's because this community is far better informed about
who the homeless really are. They know that the guy in the
doorway might be a veteran, but we have more work to do as an
origination. I think many Vermonters would be shocked to know
that at the start of the school year last year there were 141
homeless children in our area, or that our waiting list is
high right now.
That is the hardest part of this work, when you don't have
enough to help everyone. Last year we had the least amount of
money to give out for prevention, and all of the school
systems felt it keenly because we were not able to keep the
same amount of families stable because of state and federal
funding cuts and donations were down.
BFP: In what other ways have you been innovative in your
approach in leading COTS?
Markley: I have brought a lot of new constituencies to
COTS. I look further up the stream. Where people are used to
hearing nothing but no, I find a way to get to yes.
For people with really awful credit or behavior issues,
every door is slammed. No landlord will take the risk.
Instead of accepting that as a no, we figure out how to help
people build relationships with landlords through a new risk
guarantee program.
We ask landlords to take a chance on our clients who we
know are a challenge. We put up all of the costs of an
eviction as a guarantee, and hold it for a year and a half.
My goal is to make sure nobody loses the hope entirely that
they will ever be back into housing. Once a person gives up,
there is so little you can do. It's like a life lost
prematurely. As long as we can hold out that carrot, you can
work with people to change behaviors, to try a different
approach, and to keep believing in themselves and in having a
home.
BFP: If you could do anything you wanted to innovate at
COTS, with no barriers, what would you do? The sky is the
limit.
Markley: I would triple our prevention fund, and link it to
our follow-up services two years out to make sure families
are still doing OK. I would focus on employment initiatives
and bring together more partnerships. I would integrate the
use of technology and bring together the disparate programs
right now that are hard to navigate.
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