New shelter to open in Burlington

Read the article at willistonobserver.com.

The time is coming to a close for the former Vermont State Police barracks in Williston to house homeless families as a shelter under the Vermont Department of Children and Families.

Last fall, with the state’s motel housing program contracting and cold weather looming, the department swiftly converted the former police headquarters into housing for up to seven families. It hired an out-of-state contractor to manage the shelter through the winter, and, in May, the nonprofit Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity took over.

The building is located just north of the Exit 12 interchange of Interstate 89. It became vacant in 2023 when the state police moved into a new headquarters on the south side of the interchange.

According to Lily Sojourner, director of the Department of Children and Families’ Office of Economic Opportunity, the sheltered families will be moving to a Champlain Housing Trust property in Burlington in February. The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity will continue to be the shelter’s managing organization.

Champlain Housing Trust Director of Community Relations Chris Donnelly said the shelter is under construction near downtown Burlington with hopes to have it open shortly after the new year. Families will begin moving out of Williston in January.

“We meet as a team every other week to talk about the transition and the logistics of what will need to happen,” Sojourner said. “It’s definitely a significant effort, but we have the time to prepare for it.”

The Observer received an anonymous complaint from a mother residing in the shelter with her child in April suggesting that staff for the original managing contractor — IEM International based in North Carolina — had engaged in acts of “intimidation and retaliation.”

“Positions of power are being abused,” the resident wrote in April. “Some of us feel helpless because of our situations and the need to remain in housing.”

The department hired IEM last fall because the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity was not yet ready to manage the facility, Sojourner said.

“We were looking for a really quick startup, and being able to leverage the contractor helped get us going quickly,” she said. “But we were really pleased to be able to transition it to a community operator. It brings the operation more in line with how we support other shelters across the state.”

Sojourner doesn’t recall any “significant issues” arising between staff and residents under IEM’s management. She said state agencies were “very much in close communication on every kind of challenge or issue.”

The new location in Burlington will be larger and likely able to accommodate at least one more family, Sojourner said. It will be part of a network of shelters funded through the state’s Housing Opportunity Grant Program, the capacity of which has increased over the past few years to about 150 families.

Before converting it into a shelter, the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services had planned to sell the property. Williston Town Manager Erik Wells initially expressed interest with state leaders in the town acquiring the property, but later reconsidered.

With the town no longer interested, the state is “presently evaluating the future for the building, which could include sale or another state use of the site,” said Cole Barney, Communications & Legislative Affairs Manager for the Department of Buildings & General Services.

In addition to its use as a shelter, the building also currently serves as storage space for public safety equipment, Barney said.