City officials in Burlington are planning to use the former Veterans of Foreign Wars building on South Winooski Avenue for a temporary overnight shelter this winter, aided by a $590,000 grant from the state Agency of Human Services.
Sarah Russell, the city’s special assistant to end homelessness, first mentioned the funding during a hearing on the state’s emergency housing programs at the Statehouse on Thursday. The plan was also detailed in a memo to the Burlington Board of Finance and City Council posted online several hours later.
“Recent data demonstrates a rise in unsheltered homelessness in Burlington from 80 individuals last September to over 200 currently,” Russell wrote in the memo. “This data reflects a growing need for expansion of emergency shelter capacity to ensure prevention of exposure deaths as winter draws near.”
The City Council will consider the grant and the plan to manage the shelter at its meeting on Tuesday.
If approved, the city plans to run the shelter from Dec. 15 until March 14, 2024. A portion of the money from the state would fund a new position within the city’s Community and Economic Development Office. That position, called a homeless initiatives manager, would manage the winter shelter and is expected to continue until June 30, 2024. The grant would also pay for temporary staffing and private security at the shelter.
The shelter would operate during overnight hours only, from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. Russell noted a possibility for overflow capacity, if needed.
Russell admitted in the memo that she considers the 30-person capacity to be “inadequate compared to the need,” but said it’s the city’s hope that many of those living outside will be able to access emergency housing through the state during the winter.
The shelter would be “low-barrier,” Russell said in the memo, “ensuring individuals with substance use disorder, mental health and behavioral challenges, and people experiencing barriers to obtaining and maintaining traditional shelter” have access to the space during the winter months.
A spokesperson for the Agency of Human Services, Rachel Feldman, confirmed the grant on Thursday and called it a “partnership” with the city.
“AHS has been onsite with Burlington at this project and it is an example of the seasonal projects we’re supporting this winter to provide shelter during the coldest months,” Feldman wrote in an email.
Mayor Miro Weinberger’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The VFW building has been vacant since closing earlier this year. Champlain Housing Trust purchased the property and is expected to start an affordable housing project at the site next spring.
