BRATTLEBORO — It's a little after 5 p.m. on an unseasonably cold Monday in Brattleboro. About two dozen people are waiting under the alcove of the side entrance to the First Baptist Church, waiting for the Overflow Shelter to open.
Lucie Fortier drives in and parks her car in the parking lot at the rear of the church. Another night at the shelter is beginning.
Volunteers from All Souls Church filter in, bringing in pans of lasagna, salad bowls of greens, and bags of garlic bread for the evening meal.
Fortier, a part-time outreach specialist and volunteer coordinator at the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center, usually handles the check-ins most nights at the Overflow Shelter. But this night is different from the previous nights.
Melinda Bussino isn't here.
Bussino, who died on Sunday, was executive director of the Drop In Center and one of founders of the Overflow Shelter, which began in 2008 and is open every night from November through April.
Fortier said that there were a lot of tears the night before, as the regulars at the Overflow Shelter heard the news about Bussino's death.
“The first thing a lot of them asked was what was going to happen to the shelter,” Fortier said. “We let them know that we were going to stay open the rest of this season, and we would fight to keep it open next season.”
Fortier has been involved with the Drop In Center for the past 10 years, and has been involved with the Overflow Shelter since its inception.
“Melinda is still watching over us,” she said. “We still have to do the mission we're here to do. She always wanted us to put aside our own agendas and focus on what needed to be done.”
There is a level of empathy at the Drop In Center and the Overflow Shelter that is evident from the moment you walk through the door. It is not by accident.
“Nearly all of us [at the Drop In Center] have either been homeless, or right on the verge of homelessness,” Fortier said. “You don't forget those experiences.”
The people here on this night are enjoying a good meal, and they have the Rev. Barbro Hansson, the minister at All Souls, to thank. She, together with the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Clergy Association, organizes the volunteers that cook and serve supper each evening.
“This is probably the easiest task for us to do,” she said. “We have 35 teams of volunteers. This is the third year that we've provided a meal every night. After the first year, we learned that you can't expect people to go to sleep without a meal.”
Fortier said that she and the many volunteers at the Drop In Center and the Overflow Center are determined to carry on Bussino's work.
Fortier said the standard for compassion and care that Bussino set is high.
“She is going to be a hard act to follow,” Fortier said. “I keep expecting her to walk through that door any minute now.”