Conversion of motel to housing for homeless is complete

homeless housing — Chris Donnelly, of the Champlain Housing Trust, in the kitchen of a unit at the new Bel Aire Apartments in Burlington. Photo by Emily Greenberg/VTDigger

[B]URLINGTON — The former Bel Aire Motel on Shelburne Road reopened its doors Wednesday as an apartment complex for chronically homeless people with significant health needs.

The Bel Aire Apartments were developed by the Champlain Housing Trust, a nonprofit aimed at creating and preserving affordable housing in Burlington, and funded with excess revenue the University of Vermont Medical Center made in 2015.

The medical center paid $1.6 million to purchase and renovate the property and will provide ongoing medical outreach to residents.

State Rep. Mary Sullivan, D-Burlington, attended a ribbon cutting Wednesday for the apartments and praised the hospital and housing trust for their efforts.

“For those of us that go home every night it’s almost unfathomable to imagine what it’s like to not have a home, but homeless people know this feeling every day,” she said. “This is a wonderful use of an existing building to house people who are in need.”

The Champlain Housing Trust worked with the University of Vermont Medical Center to convert the former Bel Aire Motel. File photo by Morgan True/VTDigger

The property now has eight apartments, three of which will function as temporary housing for patients released from the hospital who would otherwise return to unsafe living conditions that could hinder their recovery. People in these apartments may be there for one week or up to one month, depending on their condition. The hospital will fund their stay.

“People may be living in a tent or some other makeshift dwelling,” said Chris Donnelly, director of community relations for the Champlain Housing Trust. “The hospital can’t release people somewhere like that.”

The remaining apartments will function as permanent housing for chronically homeless people with medical vulnerabilities and includes a one-year-lease, paid for by federal housing vouchers.

Before the Bel Aire Apartments, homeless patients released from the hospital needing follow-up treatment or extended recovery were put up in motels.

Even with the addition of the new apartments, motels may still be used. UVM Medical Center President and CEO Eileen Whalen said more housing is still needed for the medically vulnerable homeless community than is available.

She characterized the opening of Bel Aire as a great stride toward combating homeless health care issues and said that having housing can let people focus on their health for possibly the first time.

“Providing health care in communities is part of our mission,” she said. “Housing is health care. This is a way to keep people housed and out of the ER.”

According to Donnelly, a hospital bed at the medical center can cost upwards of $500 to $1,000 a night. The fair market value for the Bel Aire Apartments is considered to be $900 a month.

The Bel Aire Apartments can house up to 12 people at a time. That’s about 2 to 3 percent of the homeless population in the area, according to the 2017 “Point in Time” count, which found about 300 homeless people in Chittenden County.

“This is another step to end homelessness,” Donnelly said. “These are some of the folks most at risk.”

The first residents of the new housing project will arrive in mid-August.