Hojun Choi
MONTPELIER — Early in June, Good Samaritan Haven celebrated the opening of Montpelier’s first 24-hour shelter, significantly increasing the number of year-round shelter beds the nonprofit has available to those experiencing homelessness in central Vermont.
Named the “Turret House,” the Barre Street property has 18 beds and allows Good Samaritan Haven to serve 135 additional people per year, said Julie Bond, executive director of the 40-year-old nonprofit.
The search for the property took several years, and the hopes for a permanent shelter in the capital city date back more than a decade, Bond told attendees at a June 5 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
By contrast, the nonprofit completed the acquisition of the property and the necessary renovations in less than a year, Bond said, thanking the staff, volunteers, and partners involved in the project.
The majority of funding for the project came from the state’s Office of Economic Opportunity, a division under the Department for Children and Families, Bond said.
Local faith leaders, partner organizations, and elected officials, including state senators Andrew Perchlik and Anne Watson, attended the event.
“For projects like this to come together it really does take the partnership of many organizations; that includes the city and the state. It takes funders, it takes city planning, and it is so exciting to see all of that come together,” Watson told The Bridge.
Multiple residents and downtown business owners have raised concerns related to homelessness, and the Montpelier City Council — under a new mayor and city manager — is in the middle of revamping solutions for people who are unhoused in the area.
Mayor Marc Gwinn said he thinks homelessness is a societal issue and tackling it requires large systemic change. The new year-round shelter is a way of offering solutions at an individual level.
Addressing the attendees of the ribbon-cutting event, Gwinn said he thinks people who have the “privilege of being listened to and heard” should act to help those who are less fortunate.
“If we’re the ones who are being listened to and heard, we have to be the ones who listen to and hear the folks who don’t have that privilege, and we have to be the ones who provide solutions for folks who don’t have a place to lay their head and keep their stuff,” Gwinn said.
The new shelter is directly adjacent to Another Way, a sanctuary for people with mental health disabilities.
Another Way Executive Director Ken Russell welcomed Good Samaritan Haven to the neighborhood, and said the two groups have worked well together in the past.
“We have a lot of synergy,” Russell said.
Bond said the new shelter increases Good Samaritan Haven’s total year-round bed capacity in central Vermont to more than 80 beds.
Local faith-based organizations and other nonprofits, including Capstone Community Action, have stepped in to operate temporary, seasonal shelters in the past, Bond said. Turret House bolsters the region’s existing network of shelters and resources for people experiencing homelessness, she added.
The organization hired more than a dozen new staff members, including two co-managers, who will operate the Montpelier shelter, Bond said.
“We just have an incredibly dedicated crew that makes this happen,” Bond said. “They are truly the connective tissue.”
A roof, a door, and safety are important, Bond said, but human connection, respect, and dignity are what people need in their most vulnerable times.
“Yes, we’re creating a shelter — a bricks-and-mortar solution, but what happens inside, the connections, the people, and the community building is the magic,” Bond said.
