After shuttling between friends’ houses and motels for four years, Michelle Lucas moved into her own apartment early last week.
“It was a little overwhelming,” she said. “It felt nice to wake up and know that where I’m at. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Lucas, 45, is one of Chittenden County’s many unhoused residents who are moving into Zephyr Place, a former 99-room hotel in Williston that Champlain Housing Trust acquired and converted into 72 units of affordable housing.
When she walked in and saw the one-bedroom, Lucas said, she started to cry. She had been living at Harbor Place in Shelburne for several months. The former motel provides temporary lodging for people experiencing homelessness. The housing trust owns it and has filed plans to redevelop it to provide affordable multifamily housing.
In recovery from substance use and sober for 14 years, Lucas said she recently had Covid and is often tired. She said she has faced a long string of challenges — the death of her mother, an abusive relationship, a slumlord, chemotherapy for malignant melanoma, and mental health and physical disabilities, including fibromyalgia — all of which led to her becoming unhoused in November 2018.
So when Lucas got a call in November informing her she had been accepted for an apartment at Zephyr Place, she was ecstatic and overwhelmed. “I had a lot of emotions,” she said.
Lucas signed a lease for a one-bedroom apartment on Dec. 20.
Champlain Housing Trust, a nonprofit that creates and preserves affordable housing in northwestern Vermont, acquired TownPlace Suites on Zephyr Road in November 2021 and started construction in May 2022. The first building opened in December and the second is expected to open soon. Together they will provide 72 perpetually affordable apartments — 29 studios and 43 one-bedrooms. Thirty-eight of them are reserved for unhoused households who will receive rental assistance from the Burlington Housing Authority, according to housing trust CEO Michael Monte.
The hotel was in good shape and is in a great location, close to jobs and public transportation, Monte said.
The project, which cost $19 million, relied on federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. Champlain Housing partnered with the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, which secured more than $8.5 million; the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, which provided $650,000 in debt funding; and Evernorth, a nonprofit development company that helped line up funding and handled construction.
“I’ve spoken to maybe 50 or so folks out there right now who don’t have shelter and this is going to have a major impact in terms of providing an opportunity because people are coming out of shelters or other resources,” Monte said. “So it’s going to free up a lot of the pending demand for shelter resources in the community.”
William Lancour is among those moving from a shelter to Zephyr Place.
Two years ago, congestive heart failure landed him in the hospital for a couple of weeks, Lancour said. “Then I got out but things were going south, so I was pretty much homeless.”
High health costs led to Lancour losing his home. He went back and forth between the street and crashing with friends.
Then he went to the Committee on Temporary Shelter for help and was temporarily put up at Harbor Place. “It was OK,” he said.
Lancour said he continued looking for housing everywhere but it wasn’t easy to find in the middle of the housing crisis in Vermont. And he stayed in touch with all the social service agencies helping him.
A few months ago, he got a call from the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, informing him that he had a new apartment in Williston. It was a long time coming but it felt “so wonderful,” he said.
Lancour moved into his new studio apartment on Dec. 19.
“Any additional safe, affordable housing in our community is worth celebrating, and we are thrilled for the 72 households who will now have a place to call home,” Jonathan Farrell, executive director of the Committee on Temporary Shelter, said in an email. “We are proud to assist several clients with their move into Zephyr Place this winter, and grateful to CHT for making this opportunity possible.”
These things matter
After several years of being unhoused, Lucas listed the things that make a difference in her new place. “Finally I have a big refrigerator. I have a kitchen sink. My stove and then a microwave up above the stove. Have lots and lots of cupboards.”
The apartment came partially furnished — a bed, nightstands, a desk, a small couch and a TV. She likes that it’s clean, safe and doesn’t have curfews.
Lucas doesn’t drive and she uses a walker, so an old friend helped her move about two carloads of her clothes and things from Harbor Place — and took her grocery shopping.
“I didn’t completely fill my fridge but it was nice to be able to buy meat and put it in the freezer. I haven’t eaten meat for so long. I haven’t been able to cook it,” she said.
Lucas, who is in a third-floor apartment, said she’s happy there’s an elevator and a laundry in the building because her health issues make it hard for her to navigate stairs.
“She’s struggled a lot,” said longtime friend Erika Martin, who often gives Lucas rides to the doctor or to buy groceries because Lucas does not have a car. “This new place they renovated that she’s moving into will be better for her.”
“It’s brand new and it’s mine and I can decorate it however I want,” Lucas said. High on the list: getting some pictures on the walls.
Now that she has stable housing, Lucas is making plans to do things long on hold, like making dental appointments and improving her diet to lose some weight and hopefully avoid back surgery for a ruptured disc and sciatica.
“I’ll be able to eat proper foods that I can mix together, not processed foods or TV dinners,” she said.
Currently in remission from melanoma, she has a dermatology appointment set for later this month.
Most importantly, Lucas said, she can continue therapy and her recovery journey in a safe place.
“That’s something people take for granted. I know addiction is hard because I’ve been in recovery for 14 years,” she said. “If you have the mindset, you can do it. You may not have anybody else rooting for you, but you’re gonna root for yourself, number one.”
Another thing Lucas is looking forward to: having her grandchildren visit from St. Albans. “I can keep my grandbabies overnight,” she said.