[B]RATTLEBORO — More than 50 homeless people and supporters took advantage Monday of the Amtrak Vermonter train that stops Main Street traffic here at 5 p.m. to greet idling vehicles with signs calling for more attention to their struggles.
Homeless resident James Douglas, who was among those gathered in downtown’s Plaza Park, aimed to do more than just alert residents about their shared problem.
“There is a solution,” his protest sign read, a sentiment shared by local leaders who are working on several new building projects.
Douglas organized the demonstration after he was arrested July 11 for unlawful trespass when he slept on a bench in the municipally owned park. “We want people to see what’s going on,” he said Monday.
“We in the homeless community,” participants wrote in a statement, “feel that the police enforce and threaten to enforce the trespassing ordinances randomly — not consistently — and on public property, which, for the homeless, is like being terrorized; you never know when they will show up.”
Protesters said they wanted three things: in the long term, housing, and, in the short term, dignity, respect and more of a say in decision making.
“It wasn’t my intent to do this,” Douglas said, “but then I got arrested.”
In response to the problem, local leaders are outlining several fixes. The town Selectboard has allocated $150,000 for a new $3 million shelter and support office to be built adjacent to the Groundworks Collaborative’s current drop-in center on South Main Street.
The nonprofit organization has quietly sought initial paperwork and public money (it just received a $400,000 state and federal community development grant) in hopes of officially announcing the project and a community fundraising campaign later this year.
“The price tag is definitely more than we anticipated, but we feel this is the answer,” said Groundworks executive director Josh Davis.
Groundworks operates a 30-bed year-round shelter near the park and seasonal overflow space from November to April at leased locations. But the shelter consistently has a waiting list and the overflow space has said lacked a permanent address.
Under the plan drawn up by Duncan Wisniewski Architecture of Burlington, crews would start constructing a new wood-framed building later this year and finish in the fall of 2020. It would house both a day and seasonal night shelter as well as support services.
In the meantime, Groundworks will gain some space by moving its food shelf this summer from the drop-in-center on South Main Street to a larger former pizza parlor on nearby Canal Street.
Municipal government, in addition to helping with the new shelter, is spending $1,000 a month for portable restrooms at three downtown locations after residents complained about people using park trees.
“Town employees and others who are maintaining these spaces have found, particularly this summer, significant amounts of human waste,” Town Manager Peter Elwell told the Selectboard at its most recent meeting.
“We view this as an urgent community need, not just as a matter of human dignity but as a matter of public health.”
Local leaders also have allocated $65,000 for a three-month pilot jobs program developed by Groundworks and Youth Services to hire people “with significant barriers to employment,” be it homelessness, substance use or mental health issues, to do temporary work for $15 an hour.
And the Windham and Windsor Housing Trust is finishing a new $7 million building on Flat Street that will add nearly two dozen affordable apartments to downtown.
Collectively, local leaders hope the developments will address the homeless situation.
“This is a really interesting time,” Davis said. “We still have people who are camping out, but I’m starting to feel the community is embracing the issue.”
