A new homeless shelter will open in downtown Burlington early next month.
COTS will operate the 56-bed shelter at 58 Pearl Street, a former Social Security Administration office where the nonprofit ran a warming shelter last winter. The space will replace the organization’s 36-bed Waystation shelter on Church Street, where it’s been based for more than four decades.
“The new Waystation is more than just a building,” City Council President Ben Traverse (D-Ward 5) said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday. “It’s a promise to our community members who are experiencing homelessness that they will have a safe, warm and supportive place to rebuild their lives.”
The shelter will expand capacity just in time for winter, but, on the whole, the city still lacks enough beds for its burgeoning homeless population. Officials estimate that as many as 300 people are sleeping rough in and around the Queen City.
COTS obtained the building in early January through a federal program that dispenses unused government property for programs that benefit homeless people. A little over a week later, the nonprofit opened a winter warming shelter there, outfitting the space with two rows of black cots separated by privacy curtains.
COTS raised $2 million, mostly from private donations, to open the new space, which has been entirely transformed with dorm-style bunk rooms, storage lockers and private bathrooms. A dine-in kitchen will allow guests to prepare food and socialize, and a private meeting room will be available for social service providers to meet with clients. The whole space is painted a calming shade of sage green, and warm wood paneling lines the ceiling of the lounge area near the front entrance.
The actual bunk beds, however, were delayed at customs and are due to be delivered on November 11, according to Rebekah Mott, COTS’ director of development and communications. At that point, COTS will relocate guests from the Church Street location, which the organization hopes to repurpose into permanently affordable housing.
The Waystation will be open each night starting at 6 p.m. and close during the daytime. The program works in conjunction with COTS’ Daystation on North Avenue, where guests can access showers and hot meals and meet with service providers. On extremely cold nights, the overnight shelter will have overflow space for about six additional guests, Mott said.
Like all COTS shelters, the one on Pearl Street will require guests to be substance-free and demonstrate that they’re trying to find permanent housing. COTS executive director Jonathan Farrell said this mix of compassion and accountability has been successful. Last year, the Waystation moved 61 people into permanent housing, he said.
“I’m certain that the 56 beds in our new facility will give the same, if not better, results,” Farrell said. “Our team will work tirelessly to help our guests, and we want them to be an active part of achieving success well beyond the time they spend with us.”
At the ribbon-cutting event, Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak said she will continue to advocate for state support to open additional shelter space. As of now, the city has no plans to operate a low-barrier warming shelter this winter.
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