Shelter isn’t charity. It’s public safety.

Useful takeaways from this story.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity opened low-barrier shelters that became Vermont’s largest pandemic shelter, showing sheltering protects vulnerable people and the wider community.

Rising homelessness in Vermont is linked to lack of affordable housing, higher costs, mental health and substance use challenges, and reduced capacity in support systems.

Shelters with integrated services support individuals in crisis while also helping businesses, emergency services, and neighborhoods affected by unsheltered homelessness.

The useful part

Six years ago, as Covid-19 tore through Vermont, the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity was asked to do something we'd never done before: open a shelter. Our staff worked around the clock under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Alongside emergency responders, healthcare professionals and public safety personnel, they helped protect some of the state's most vulnerable residents during a moment of uncertainty.

How it works

They were heroes, as were shelter providers, outreach workers and emergency responders across the state.
The discussion about where shelters should be located, how they should operate and who is responsible for homelessness is not new.
Yet too often our frustration is directed primarily toward those experiencing homelessness themselves and how their struggles appear in our communities.
They showed up every day to care for people who had nowhere else to go.
Moral responsibility, public health and public safety are not mutually exclusive goals when it comes to homelessness and sheltering.

What to take from it

That is why we engage with communities, seek input, discuss concerns openly, proceed transparently and then make decisions about where shelters may be developed. It is whether we will embrace all three and act with the courage, compassion and shared responsibility that this moment requires. When we provide safe shelter and services to those experiencing homelessness, we honor human dignity, improve public health outcomes and strengthen our communities.

Example or evidence

Ultimately, shelters are about more than beds and buildings.
We understand that shelters can have impacts on the communities where they are located.
Often, we are balancing competing needs: the immediate needs of individuals experiencing homelessness, the broader needs of our communities and state, and the concerns of the neighborhoods and towns where...
These questions are not easy to navigate, and they are questions all of us, as a state, will need to continue addressing together.

Details worth keeping

The number of people experiencing homelessness in Vermont has grown dramatically in recent years. Much of this increase can be attributed to a lack of affordable housing, rising costs, increasing mental health and substance use challenges, and diminished capacity throughout our mental health, recovery and residential support systems. READ MORE Plans for 100-bed shelter in Chittenden County run into pushback by Carly Berlin September 4, 2026, 4:21 pm September 4, 2026, 4:21 pm.

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