BPHC Leads Smoke-Free Housing Roundtable for Multi-Unit Housing Providers
We recently hosted a dynamic, half-day roundtable session aimed at tackling the complex challenges of smoke-free policy enforcement in multi-unit housing. The event brought together four of Vermont’s largest income-based housing providers alongside representatives from the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) and the Burlington Community Justice Center.
The goal of the session was to share struggles and successes, offer new tools, and open lines of communication. VDH officials were on hand to listen to the providers' on-the-ground experiences and explore how the state can better support them in achieving their smoke-free goals—even for properties that already have smoke-free policies in place.
Why Income-Based Housing?
BPHC is frequently the first call when VDH receives an in-building smoking complaint from a local resident. Over the past two years, 100% of the complaints received by BPHC have come from residents living in income-based housing often struggling with breathing-related disorders. Because of this stark data point, the roundtable intentionally focused on these specific properties.
Income-based housing organizations face a unique challenge: their core mission is to keep people housed—including individuals who may be traditionally harder to house—while simultaneously ensuring policy compliance to maintain a healthy, smoke-free environment for all residents.
Restorative Justice and Community Support
To address the friction between enforcement and housing security, the roundtable introduced constructive pathways to compliance:
Restorative Justice: Rachel Jolly, Executive Director of the Chittenden County Community Justice Center, discussed how restorative justice models can be used to interrupt non-compliance. These models offer a way to address violations constructively while keeping residents housed.
On-Site Cessation: Melissa Southwick from the My Healthy Vermont program highlighted available support systems. She shared her success in leading in-house cessation groups, which help residents build supportive cohorts as they navigate their quit journeys together.
Emerging Tech Solutions for Smarter Enforcement
We also focused on overcoming the significant hurdles housing providers face in proving policy violations. BPHC’s Evan Litwin showcased emerging, affordable tech-based solutions designed to collect unbiased data and evidence of smoking.
Roundtable participants expressed strong interest in leveraging these new technologies to enhance their enforcement efforts without relying on guesswork or conflict. BPHC extends a special thanks to Minut and Alertify for providing product training and free devices to give away to attendees. For providers looking for real-time alerts and demonstrable, unbiased data on smoking, we highly recommend checking out their products and booking a quick demo call. Advanced systems like these can deliver real-time alerts to property managers, generate incident reports, and can discern between common household events like cooking smoke, a candle, or incense as compared with cigarettes or cannabis.
By structuring the morning around both supportive community tools and innovative technology, BPHC left multi-unit housing providers feeling hopeful, energized, and equipped with creative new strategies for the future.
Check out some of the great resources and links we pulled together for attendees. Download our smoke-free housing resource sheet here.
Still weighing the benefits of smoke-free housing policies? Check out our recent article here.
