BRATTLEBORO — In an effort to provide overnight shelter for a number of individuals living outdoors in the area, Groundworks Collaborative plans to extend the hours of its new facility for 24-hour shelter, seven days a week, starting Monday, Aug. 16.
The organization, which opened the brand-new Drop-In Center at 54 South Main St. on June 28 for daytime services, says it is prepared to host up to 34 people per night.
The 24-Hour Shelter at Groundworks Drop-In Center will provide food, overnight and daytime shelter, showers, laundry, and supportive services such as case management and a representative payee service.
The organization - which is maximizing meal support from Loaves & Fishes, Brigid's Kitchen, and Everyone Eats - plans to re-engage the program in which volunteer meal teams provide dinners for shelter guests.
According to a news release, the program (formerly known as the Seasonal Overflow Shelter, or “SOS”) will launch with the hope that funding will allow the facility to remain open day and night, year-round.
Increased funds to extend the duration of the shelter season were available this year from the Vermont Agency of Human Services' Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). However, an ongoing funding gap will need to be filled in order to prevent the shelter's closing in future warmer months.
Groundworks leaders say that they hope that they can fill that gap and keep the shelter open around the clock next summer.
Meanwhile, to open this month for overnight shelter, Groundworks - one of many organizations facing staffing shortages in the wake of the Covid pandemic - says it has needed additional time to hire and train more staff to support the expanded role in the community.
The organization has plans to scale back the 24/7 presence it has maintained at the Quality Inn on Putney Road since the beginning of the pandemic. However, a variety of services, such as daytime staffing, case management services, and food distribution, will remain in place.
Vermont's General Assistance emergency motel program has provided rooms to shelter Vermonters experiencing homelessness throughout the pandemic, with funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a public health measure.
“While extremely effective, [the program] has proven cost-prohibitive and has begun to wind down,” Groundworks officials report in the news release.
The state introduced eligibility criteria in June and July that forced a number of people out of motel rooms. Many of them have had no choice but to camp outdoors.
“Our operations team has put together a well-thought-out plan to use the resources we have to meet the need through a variety of programs,” said Executive Director Josh Davis.
“It is no small feat that we're opening the much-needed emergency shelter in a new space, as the pandemic carries on, and while our capacity has never been more greatly tested,” he said.
While the organization's focus is on opening and maintaining emergency shelter operations, Groundworks and other community case managers will continue to meet with clients at the motels as well as at the new shelter.
They are working diligently to find sustainable housing solutions in what they describe as “Windham County's prohibitive rental market.”
“We faced an extremely low vacancy rate for affordable housing prior to the pandemic,” said Groundworks' Director of Operations Rhianna Kendrick. “Covid has exacerbated the housing shortage in our community, and we now have people who've been approved for housing subsidies and simply cannot find a place to live.”