New tent encampments, like this one in Montpelier this past summer, have been established by people who lost or were unable to access housing or shelter in the wake of protracted state-sponsored cutbacks. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Housing advocate Brenda Siegel first met Tammy Menard on the steps of the Vermont Statehouse during a 2021 protest that asked state leaders to give shelter to people who needed it through a state-sponsored motel program.
In September, after facing housing insecurity for years, Tammy and her husband, Lucas Menard, were forced to leave their motel room when their 80-day voucher ended, according to Siegel.
Since then, the couple had been living outside on land in Wolcott. Late Wednesday afternoon, Tammy and Lucas were found dead in their tent. What caused their deaths has not been determined, and the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department, which responded to the scene, had no further information Friday afternoon. Foul play is not suspected, the department said in a press release.
“People can’t live outside,” Siegel said on Friday, her voice breaking. “They’re at risk of dying when they live outside.”
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Despite facing housing insecurity themselves, Tammy and Lucas organized and advocated for others in their position, according to a number of people who knew them.
At the 2021 protest, Tammy connected several people who were struggling to find housing with End Homelessness Vermont, Siegel’s organization.
“We had our hotline started while we were on the steps, and she would contact us when she had someone in the overflow, or when she had someone at the day shelter, or when she was interacting with somebody who was outside who needed help getting inside,” Siegel said.
Around 2017, Tammy and Lucas — or “Troll,” a childhood nickname that stuck — met Matthew and Kathryn Nunnelley at Capital Community Church in Montpelier, where Matthew is the pastor.
The Menards were living in a van, which was having mechanical problems and was stationed in a nearby parking lot, Matthew said. At the church’s Thursday night dinner, he noticed the couple, who seemed stranded because of their car, and invited them in. Tammy came in right away, Matthew said, but Lucas needed some convincing. Tammy started coming more regularly, and slowly but surely, Lucas followed suit.
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“There were a lot of times when he introduced me as his pastor, and people would cock their heads like, you go to church?” Matthew said with a laugh.
While Tammy was widely described as people-oriented and ready to help, Lucas was more reserved, Kathryn said. Kathryn and Lucas were the same age, with birthdays in September, so Lucas proposed a cookout with burgers before the church service, she said.
“Troll, he definitely kind of had a gruff, tough exterior, but he was definitely tender inside,” Kathryn said. “You just had to get to that place where he trusted you to see that. I would just say that I feel honored to have seen that part of him.”
The Nunnelleys considered the Menards family.
“I can’t believe that I’ll never see them or talk to them again,” Kathryn said, “and they won’t be there in the pews with us. Tammy made her stuffing for our meal last week, and, you know, she’ll never do that again for us.”
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Brenda Siegel, center, joined housing policy advocates and faith leaders for a press conference to raise awareness about changes to the state’s housing assistance program on Nov. 1, 2021. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
‘Two strikes against them’
Rick DeAngelis, who recently retired from his post as the director of Good Samaritan Haven, a shelter in Barre, said he met the Menards when they stayed at the Econo Lodge in Montpelier, where the shelter operated during the pandemic. Then, a few years later, Tammy was a staff member at Another Way, a drop-in center in Montpelier.
“We were jointly operating a warming shelter at the bus station in Montpelier with Another Way, and Tammy was often there,” DeAngelis said. “She was there more than anybody else as the staff person.”
At times, he said, Tammy was eligible for housing assistance and Lucas wasn’t, and so he couldn’t live with her.
“She wanted to be with him, even if that meant being homeless,” DeAngelis said.
The Menards went in and out of housing over the last few years. After the 2021 protest on the Statehouse lawn, Siegel next encountered Tammy and Lucas when a colleague happened upon an encampment.
“They were struggling to get back in the hotels,” she said. “We were able to help them get back in, and they’ve remained our clients since then.”
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Both struggled with health problems that made the lack of housing especially difficult, Siegel said. Tammy had diabetes and needed refrigerated insulin. She had both her knees replaced. Lucas had a blood clot in a vein going to his liver. In January 2024, Tammy lost most of her belongings in a fire at an encampment, including warm winter gear, blankets “and all my medicine,” she wrote in a GoFundMe post.
“Unfortunately, I’m homeless due to medical conditions that prevent me from being able to hold a full time job to afford housing,” she wrote.
Because of their health conditions, Siegel said her organization had been advocating to get them back into the state’s motel program, but they were denied.
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byCarly Berlin
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Chris Winters, commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, did not immediately respond to a reporters’ phone call on Friday.
DeAngelis said recent knee surgeries had helped Tammy become more mobile, and it seemed like things were taking a turn for the better. Only a week ago, Tammy asked if DeAngelis would serve as a reference for her. She wanted to work at Good Samaritan Haven, he said, and help people who were experiencing homelessness, too. He told her that maybe she could start looking for an apartment.
“The juxtaposition of this horrible thing and how well she was doing, it seemed — looking for a job,” he said, was “homelessness in a nutshell.”
“The folks that are experiencing homelessness, they’ve got two strikes against them,” he said. “It’s so hard to re-establish themselves in the system. And it feels like there’s no justice.”
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Siegel said she and her staff members had spoken with Tammy in the days leading up to her death. The couple had recently been cleared to re-enter the hotel program on Dec. 1, but they hadn’t yet found a place that had availability.
“They were not doing well,” Siegel said. “She presented with high spirits, and in those days she told me that they would make it, but she just was really starting to worry about their health, so she was regularly checking in to see, had we found a spot?”
Siegel said Tammy was “always thinking about how she could help other people, even in her most high-need moments.”
In 2023, Tammy posted an image to Facebook that said: “Love your family. Spend time, be kind and serve one another. Make no room for regrets. Tomorrow is not promised and today is short.”
A vigil will be held for Tammy and Lucas Menard at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Montpelier City Hall.
MONTPELIER — Hunters are gearing up for the start of Vermont’s traditionally popular 16-day regular deer season that begins Saturday, Nov. 15 and ends Sunday, Nov. 30.
A hunter may take one legal buck during this season if they did not already take one during the archery deer season. The definition of a legal buck depends on the Wildlife Management Unit (WMU). A map of the WMUs is on pages 24 and 25 of the 2025 Vermont Hunting & Trapping Guide available from license agents and highway rest areas.
In WMUs C, D1, D2, E1, E2, G, I, L, M, P, and Q a legal buck is any deer with at least one antler three inches or more in length.
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In WMUs A, B, F1, F2, H, J1, J2, K, N, and O a legal buck is any deer with at least one antler with two or more antler points one inch in length or longer.
“The greatest numbers of deer continue to be in western regions of the state and other valley areas,” said Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s deer biologist Nick Fortin. “The Green Mountains and Northeast Kingdom offer more of a big woods experience with fewer, but often larger, deer.”
Vermont hunting licenses include a buck tag for this season and a late season bear tag (for Nov. 15-23), cost $28 for residents and $102 for nonresidents. Hunters under 18 years of age get a break at $8 for residents and $25 for nonresidents. Licenses are available on Fish and Wildlife’s website and from license agents statewide.
“I am urging all hunters to wear a fluorescent orange hat and vest to help maintain Vermont’s very good hunting season safety record,” said Vermont Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Jason Batchelder.
A 2025 Deer Season Hunting Guide can be downloaded from the department’s website at https://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/. The guide includes a map of the Wildlife Management Units (WMUs), season dates, regulations, and other helpful information.
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Hunters are required to report deer in person at a big game reporting station during the regular season. Online reporting will not be available. This requirement allows biologists to collect important information from as many deer as possible.
Hunters who get a deer on Nov. 15 or 16 can help Vermont’s deer management program by reporting their deer at one of the biological check stations operated by Fish and Wildlife Department personnel listed, including the Bennington Fish Hatchery.
Hunters who do not go to a biological reporting station are asked to provide a tooth from their deer. Tooth envelopes and tooth removal instructions are available at all big game reporting stations. Each tooth will be cross sectioned to accurately determine the deer’s age, and the results will be posted on the Fish and Wildlife website next spring.
Vermont is seeking a new developer to build a 15-bed locked facility for youth involved in the criminal justice system. The request for proposal comes a few months after the Department for Children and Families dropped its plans to build the facility in Vergennes.
The RFP, issued Oct. 17, puts the responsibility for finding a location, as well as securing any local permits or zoning changes, on the developer.
Vermont hasn’t had a permanent facility for justice-involved youth since closing Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in 2020 amid allegations that staff used excessive force against kids.
The state has struggled to replace Woodside, encountering local pushback in Vergennes and, before that, in Newbury, where it first attempted to build a six-bed facility.
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More from Vermont Public: Lawsuit, regulatory reports allege ‘dangerous’ restraints of children at Woodside
The lack of a secure youth facility has meant more juveniles have been held in adult prisons, according to the Department of Corrections. From Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025, there were 26 youth held in Vermont prisons, said Jordan Pasha, DOC’s director of classification. That’s up from 20 the previous year and 13 the year before that.
Most youth accused of a crime are placed in the custody of the Department for Children and Families, and their cases play out in family court, which is confidential. But there are about a dozen more serious offenses, such as murder and sexual assault, that can result in a youth being charged as an adult. In those cases, a juvenile can be held in prison while their case plays out.
Federal regulations require that kids be held in “sight and sound separation” from adults in prison, which often means they are held in what amounts to solitary confinement.
DOC officials say their facilities are not set up to hold youth.
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“If it [was] something that we no longer had to do, I think our staff would be very happy about that,” said Haley Sommer, DOC’s director of communications.
One 16-year-old was recently held at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland for 19 days. He told child welfare advocates that he was alone in a cell for 10 to 16 hours a day, and described the experience as “inhumane,” according to Matthew Bernstein, the state’s child, youth and family advocate.
“I think that any policymaker, indeed, any Vermonter should find it unacceptable that we can’t offer young people something better,” Bernstein said.
That youth was eventually transferred to Red Clover, a temporarily locked four-bed facility DCF opened in Middlesex last year.
More from Vermont Public: Temporary facility for justice-involved youth could open by September, but hurdles remain
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Since it opened, Red Clover has been full 57% of time and the average length of stay is about 41 days, according to the office of the youth, child and family advocate.
Deputy Defender General Marshall Pahl said he’s generally been pleased with the conditions at Red Clover, but he’s concerned about how long youth are being held there.
“It’s a temporary detention facility,” Pahl said. “As we start using it for holding kids for weeks instead of days, or months instead of weeks, all of a sudden it’s really an inappropriate facility.”
DCF officials did not agree to an interview, but in a written statement said that a situation like a youth being held for an extended period of time in an adult prison highlights the need for a new locked youth facility in Vermont.
Objections remain to the state’s plans, however. Bernstein, the child, youth and family advocate, said a 15-bed facility is too big for the state, pointing to Red Clover’s utilization data.
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“I think it pretty strongly indicates that we should pause,” he said. “We should slow down a little if we’re talking about building a brand new 15-bed facility from scratch.”
Bernstein said the state should prioritize community-based programs for kids — ones that keep them out of locked facilities.
LEICESTER, Vt. (WCAX) – US Route 7 in the town of Leicester, just south of Salisbury, is closed due to a crash, according to Vermont State Police.
The closure notification was sent out Sunday at 3:30p.m.
The New Haven Barracks issued a traffic notification stating the closure is expected to last for an undetermined amount of time. Specific details about the crash are not yet available.
Police said updates will be provided as when they can.
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Motorists should expect delays in the area or seek alternate routes, according to the notification. Police advised drivers to use caution.
