[B]URLINGTON — A bitterly cold winter is intensifying Burlington’s need for more beds and shelters for homeless people, advocates say.
Spectrum Youth and Family Services recently opened Burlington’s newest 10-bed shelter, in the basement of St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral on Allen Street in Burlington. The shelter accommodates people aged 18 to 26, many of whom were turned away from shelters last year.
“Many nights last year young people were literally in tears asking us where do we go,” said Spectrum Executive Director Mark Redmond.
The young adults who frequently sleep in Spectrum’s shelters were not present at a news conference at the Church Wednesday morning. Redmond cited privacy reasons, but also said that many of them hold down jobs.
“It’s the working poor who are often homeless,” Redmond said. “It shouldn’t happen, but it often does.”
The shelter was made possible by donations, Redmond said. Community Health Centers of Burlington donated the 10 cots. The University of Vermont Medical Center donated laundry service and bedding, and the space in the church was donated by Roman Catholic Bishop Christopher Coyne. The entire space costs about $130,000 to operate, much of which also has been donated.
The shelter opens at 6 p.m. every night and will stay open until April.
Many homeless advocates cited this winter’s bitter cold as a major factor in the increased need for shelter. Jan Demers, executive director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, said state officials had approached her and asked her to be prepared to create a pop-up shelter, should the state run out of motel housing vouchers for people.
“I got a call from the Agency of Human Services, and they said it’s time,” Demers said.
Thanks to a team effort, Demer said, they managed to open a shelter housing 26 people and a dog, during the cold stretch between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
“When we need it again, we will be ready again,” Demers said.
