First off, on panhandling:
We - my disabled husband and I - lived in a canvas tent up Putney Road from 2021 to 2023. Not once in our two years of being homeless did we ever need to panhandle for anything.
Neither of us work. We have very little income from SSI (Supplemental Security Income) and SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance), and we fall below the poverty line. Since we choose not to spend our money on drugs or alcohol, we always had just enough to afford our basic tenting survival needs and hygiene needs.
No one can go hungry in this town. It's not possible with aid of Food Stamps (3SquaresVT), daily community lunches, food shelfs, etc.