New organization to take over Burlington homeless shelter

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Starting in October, ANEW Place’s Champlain Inn in Burlington will have a new organization taking over.

ANEW Place announced in May that it no longer had the means to run the overnight shelter on Shelburne Road.

After the city asked several organizations to take over, the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity stepped up to the plate.

The shelter model will change from overnight hours to 24/7. It will be able to house more than 30 people, and guests can stay in the inn for up to six months.

CVOEO wants to make sure the shelter is not only a place to stay but that it can help unhoused people on the road to recovery.

“Emergency shelters should be places that are trauma-informed, where people get their own place. Then people can get wraparound services. I think CVOEO is uniquely placed because we have so many programs. It’s important that people get a holistic approach if they are going to move out of homelessness,” said Paul Dragon of CVOEO.

The Champlain Housing Trust will assume ownership of the building, manage the property and start renovations to the building to address safety that could cost more than $1 million.

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