BRATTLEBORO-Plans are moving forward to set up an emergency overnight shelter this winter to fill what organizers say is the need "to offer a warm and welcoming overnight space for adults during the coldest months of the year."
More than 50 people gathered at the Beloved Community Church - the congregation formed by the collaboration of the First United Methodist and First Baptist churches - on Town Crier Drive for a meeting that outlined plans for the overnight shelter, which would be housed at the church between Dec. 1 and March 31.
"It's wonderful to see human decency in action," said Ralph Howe, pastor of First United Methodist Church.
Initial setup costs for the Beloved Winter Shelter are being funded by a grant from the state of Vermont's Extreme Cold Weather Shelter Program (ECWSP). According to its website, the program "is designed to support community-based emergency shelter operations during periods of extreme cold for individuals experiencing homelessness who have no other safe housing option."
The ECWSP grant will cover staffing and operating costs for 20 of the coldest nights this winter - kicking in when temperatures plummet beyond –10 degrees F - but organizers say they intend to have the new shelter open for the other 100 nights and are in the process of fundraising to cover those costs, estimated at $222,000. So far, about $77,000 has been raised.
The shelter would run in a similar way to the Winter Overflow Shelter that existed for about a decade in the former sanctuary of the First Baptist Church on Main Street until 2017.
The new shelter would be open every night from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., with capacity for eight people most nights, with up to 15 cots allowed on the 20 coldest nights. Organizers say they are trying to get an exemption from state regulators to have 15 cots available for all 120 nights.
The cots, which will be set up in the church's fellowship hall, would be available each night on a first-come, first-served basis. There would be no overnight storage of belongings, and guests must take everything with them when they leave.
Organizers say it will be run as a "low-barrier" shelter for guests over the age of 18. Alcohol, drugs, or weapons will not be allowed, and anyone who leaves during the night cannot check back in.
"We're trying to get as many people in here as we can," said Eileen Glover, a member of the shelter's steering committee. "We're not going have lots of strict guidelines. It's for the people with the most need on the coldest nights."
Unlike the former First Baptist shelter, no meals will be served. Instead, snacks and beverages will be provided. Another difference is that there will be a mix of paid staff and volunteers running the shelter each night.
Training will be provided for everyone involved with the shelter, with an emphasis what organizers described as "de-escalation, first aid, and mental-health awareness."
Filling the need
Last winter, the state's hotel shelter program was winding down, and the shelter spaces run by Groundworks Collaborative were at maximum capacity. In the absence of an emergency shelter set up by the town, Cristina Shayonye and other Brattleboro community members raised and spent $3,000 on motel rooms to get people off the streets during the coldest nights.
While this effort was able to help out some people, Shayonye said it was "hectic and unsustainable," and a more permanent solution is needed.
At the same time that a shelter site was being sought, 69A, a community center on 69A Elliot Street, opened in the spring to serve as a daytime downtown gathering place.
Started by Katie Bachler and Scott Berzofsky, 69A is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and offers free coffee, tea, water, Wi-Fi access, and various gear and supplies (including tents, sleeping bags, flashlights, and clothing). It was designed as a place to relax and regroup, with "restrooms, music, and people to talk to," according to a 69A flyer.
Several of the people involved with 69A, including Shayonye, are part of the Beloved Shelter steering committee. They see the Beloved Shelter as an extension of the resources they've been providing on Elliot Street.
"We were looking for a place to open its doors to us, and we couldn't find one last year," said Shayonye. "And this church, the Beloved Community Church, opened its doors to us this year, and this [ECWSP] grant came along. With an actual location and the grant money, we won't have to put people in motel rooms this winter."
Glover said the Beloved Shelter organizers have been working with organizations in other local communities.
"They've gratefully shared their documents with us so we weren't building everything from scratch," she said. "We are figuring out what the structure is going to look like, how we are operating, what the safety and procedures are while we are here."
Training will be provided for shelter volunteers, including spending time at 69A to learn more about the people the shelter will be serving.
Thinking creatively
Organizers stressed that the Beloved Shelter is not specifically connected to Groundworks.
"We are collaborating and are in constant communication with the other organizations in town that provide services, but this is its own entity with its own fiscal sponsor," said steering committee member Elizabeth Moriarty.
"We are educators, clergy, activists, parents, psychiatric nurses, and neighbors - people who are connected to this community and deeply care about it who are wanting to connect with our other neighbors," she continued. "We work in deep partnership with other agencies, elected officials, and other people of goodwill, but we are an ad hoc collective."
Groundworks Executive Director Libby Bennett said at the meeting that the nonprofit's overnight shelter is often full and presents more barriers than what the Beloved Shelter is planning.
She noted that the state programs to offer shelter in motels "have been pared way down, so that is basically for families," she said. "We're down to just one motel in town that can take single people. So that's where this shelter comes in."
This program is far from adequate to meet the problem at hand, the organizers said.
The Beloved Shelter will be "one option that didn't exist last winter," said Shayoyne. "There needs to be more than this."
"The problem is systemic and vast, and we need different pieces and creative solutions that defy categories," Moriarty added.
Skyberry House (skyberryhouse.org) - a Brattleboro nonprofit that has been operating what it calls "a house of hospitality" modeled on the Catholic Worker houses started in the 1930s by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin - is the nonprofit fiscal agent for the new shelter, Moriarty said. She said donations will be handled through Skyberry with complete openness and accountability about budgeting and spending.
"We want to do this because it's needed," Moriarty said, "and we want you to be a part of it because we can't do it by ourselves."
"This is an awesome community that cares about people," said Shayoyne. "The state isn't going to come in and save us."
She said it's about "neighbors helping neighbors, and when you have more than you need and you see someone who doesn't have enough at all, then you pitch in and share."
"That's what kind of shelter it is," Shayoyne said.
Those interested in serving as paid overnight hosts or shelter staff, or serving as volunteer to help set up the shelter at the beginning of the evening and cleaning up in the morning, can contact the steering committee at belovedwintershelter@gmail.com.
Donations for the shelter can be mailed to Beloved Winter Shelter, in care of Skyberry House, P.O. Box 360, Brattleboro, VT 05302. Be sure to make checks payable to Skyberry House, with "Beloved Winter Shelter" written in the memo line.
This News item by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.