[B]URLINGTON — The Champlain Housing Trust and the University of Vermont Medical Center are partnering to purchase and convert the Bel Aire motel on Shelburne Road into housing for the chronically homeless, the organizations announced Friday.
The medical center will pay $1.6 million to purchase and renovate the motel on the edge of downtown Burlington into eight apartments using excess revenue taken in by the hospital in 2015. Regulators approved the hospital’s plan to spend $12 million in excess revenue on partnerships with community groups.
The apartments will house 12 people with high health needs who are either homeless or in substandard housing and who would be unlikely to recuperate on the street, in a tent or in their current living situation, said Chris Donnelly, director of community relations for the Champlain Housing Trust, which will develop the project.
The purchase is expected to be finalized in mid-December and the renovations completed over the winter. The new apartments are expected to be ready for occupancy in April, according to a news release.
The Community Health Centers of Burlington will provide case management services to tenants, and the medical center will provide support for its operating costs.
“The purchase of the Bel Aire and conversion to apartments is part of a larger successful, coordinated strategy to house people experiencing homelessness,” said Michael Monte, CFO/COO of the Champlain Housing Trust, in a statement.
The combination of stable housing and support services can keep people who have lived in poverty and through instability most of their lives stay healthy and build successful lives, social workers say.
Similar housing programs in South Burlington, Shelburne and Burlington have shown that to be the case, according to a news release. Most recently, CHT bought and renovated the former Ho Hum Motel on Route 7 in South Burlington, converting it to permanent housing.
In one instance, a similar project reduced the cost of medical care for a small group of previously homeless people by 60 percent, saving $1 million, the release states.
“These people deserve to be in the supportive community setting they need to improve their health, and the Bel Aire apartments will provide that,” said Dr. Stephen Leffler, chief medical officer at the UVM Medical Center, in a statement.
“Our mission is to work with others to improve people’s lives, and there is no better example than this collaborative approach to addressing a critical housing need. This is exactly the kind of investment we need to make if we’re going to achieve of the goal of improving the health of our communities while controlling costs,” Leffler added.
