[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15210-15212]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO RITA MARKLEY

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, homelessness is not something found only in

[[Page 15211]]

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 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.

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       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.

                          ____________________