This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and 开云体育.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, Anthony Heath, 32, stopped by Northeast Kingdom Community Action鈥檚 St. Johnsbury Marketplace to fill a thermos with hot coffee. He鈥檇 taken this daily ritual for granted before he lost his apartment a few months ago. Heath fell behind on rent after a breakup, and cycled through friends鈥� and family members鈥� homes before ending up in a tent in the town鈥檚 municipal forest 鈥� a spot he鈥檇 just been told to leave that morning.
鈥淏eing in a tent, it鈥檚 just like, it鈥檚 freezing,鈥� he said.
For several years, the Northeast Kingdom, which has the highest rates of poverty in the state, has been without a shelter, leaving a gaping hole in the safety net for Heath and other residents who鈥檝e fallen into homelessness.
As winter approaches, Northeast Kingdom Community Action is hustling to change that. The local anti-poverty agency is working to stand up a year-round, round-the-clock, low-barrier shelter in St. Johnsbury by December.
For years, the town has restricted shelters to a single zoning district near its hospital, constraining where a new shelter would be feasible. But a provision of the HOME Act, passed by Vermont lawmakers in June, limits how municipalities make decisions about shelter sites, clearing the way for this new project.
It鈥檚 an early test of the new law, and proof, its architects say, that it鈥檚 working as intended.
鈥淭his was what we were trying to do,鈥� said Rep. Seth Bongartz, D-Manchester, who helped write the law.
鈥業t was just exceedingly difficult to get shelters permitted鈥�
The makes it more difficult to block the establishment or limit the operation of a homeless shelter by forbidding municipalities from interfering with the 鈥渋ntended functional use鈥� of such shelters. It also prohibits towns and cities from limiting shelters鈥� seasonality or hours. It was meant to temper local opposition to shelters, which, in the past, has delayed or killed such proposals.
鈥淚n some communities, it was just exceedingly difficult to get shelters permitted,鈥� Bongartz said.
St. Johnsbury was one of those places.
In 2015, three proposals for siting a shelter failed within the course of a year, including one in the basement of a church across the street from the Fairbanks Museum, in the heart of downtown. Some downtown business owners expressed concerns that unhoused people would seek warmth in their stores, deterring customers, according to from the time.
On the heels of that repeated opposition, St. Johnsbury鈥檚 selectboard approved a change to the town鈥檚 zoning code. 鈥淭emporary overnight shelters鈥� would be limited to one geographic area: the health services district near Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, several miles outside of downtown.
For several years, NEKCA helped run a seasonal shelter near the hospital. But it had just 10 beds, and opened only during the coldest winter months, from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m., according to Jenna O鈥橣arrell, NEKCA鈥檚 executive director.
Then the pandemic came, and NEKCA shut down the congregate shelter, where people had stayed in close quarters. Guests were given vouchers to stay in motels through the state鈥檚 emergency housing program, O鈥橣arrell said.
St. Johnsbury鈥檚 Fairbanks Inn accepted vouchers through the program, housing people who had few other places to turn. Last year, the town issued a zoning violation against the inn鈥檚 owner, alleging that the place was operating as a shelter outside the proper zoning district, according to records obtained by 开云体育.
The owner appealed, in part arguin that St. Johnsbury鈥檚 restrictions on shelters constituted 鈥渄e facto 鈥渆xclusionary zoning鈥� and that if the inn stopped participating in the voucher program, families would be 鈥減ut out on the streets,鈥� including children enrolled in the town鈥檚 schools. The case remains before the Environmental Division of the Vermont Superior Court. Guests receiving state vouchers remain at the inn.
Serving a 鈥榙esperate community need鈥�
When federal COVID-19 relief money went away, the state began to wind down the motel voucher program. As people have lost those rooms, the need for more shelter beds has become even more pronounced in communities throughout the state.
In the Kingdom, NEKCA had been involved in plans to build a new shelter on land owned by Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, but the effort has stalled amid funding and construction delays, said Casey Winterson, director of economic and community based services at NEKCA. Service providers began worrying that people living outside would have nowhere to shelter indoors this winter.
Then, this summer, the owners of a church property on Moose River Drive in St. Johnsbury approached the nonprofit developer Rural Edge and said they were considering selling.
鈥淲e took a look not expecting it to materialize into anything, but really saw the potential for the property to serve a desperate community need for an emergency shelter,鈥� said Patrick Shattuck, executive director of Rural Edge.
Rural Edge began lining up about $740,000 in funding to purchase and renovate the church property, and NEKCA agreed to operate the site. Retrofitting an existing building to function as a shelter would take a fraction of the time it would require to finish constructing the new shelter by the hospital, Winterson said.
There was just one rub: the old church building on Moose River Drive was outside the health services zoning district.
Housing leaders found themselves in a familiar position 鈥� pleading for permission from town regulators 鈥� but this time they had a state law on their side.
When Shattuck made the pitch to the town鈥檚 Development Review Board in late September, he told the board that the new provision of the HOME law had just gone into effect at the start of the month 鈥� meaning, in his words, that 鈥渟helters are things that really can鈥檛 be regulated.鈥� The new law was one reason why he and NEKCA and other service providers thought this new shelter might be possible at all, he said.
After over an hour of debate 鈥� including pushback from neighbors near the new shelter site, an argument over whether the proposal had been properly warned, and back and forth with the town manager about how to interpret the brand-new state housing law 鈥� the board .
鈥淭he fact is, it鈥檚 not a perfect setup, but I don鈥檛 think 鈥� you鈥檙e not going to be able to solve this problem with one shelter,鈥� said board member Tony Higgs.
St. Johnsbury Town Manager Chad Whitehead noted that the HOME law is so new that there are few other examples to look to for guidance on interpreting its provision around siting a shelter.
鈥淢y understanding of the intent of it was that you could review it for very specific things: circulation of traffic, impact on stormwater, height of the building, lighting, all those types of things that land planning really circulates around 鈥� and not so much on the use and the zone,鈥� Whitehead said. He let the Development Review Board make its own interpretation of the new provision, he said, with the understanding that the decision could be appealed.
Whitehead isn鈥檛 crazy about the HOME law intervening in local zoning matters, he said. But he recognizes the 鈥渧ery obvious鈥� need for a shelter.
The new shelter on Moose River Drive
The new shelter building is built into a hill, adjacent to an affordable housing development that Rural Edge owns. It was first constructed as a single family home, then was converted into a Taekwondo studio, then into a small church, Shattuck said. There鈥檚 a kitchen onsite, and enough room inside for a communal gathering area, Winterson said.
Now, Rural Edge is finalizing its purchase of the building, and preparing to get the space ready for 20 beds. NECKA is working on hiring staff, who will need to be onsite at all hours 鈥� a requirement from the Development Review Board. They hope to open the shelter鈥檚 doors in December.
It鈥檚 still a ways away from downtown St. Johnsbury, off a road with no sidewalk. Winterson said NEKCA is working on getting the shelter better connected to local transit, and they have funding to provide taxi rides to bring people in and out of town.
Though the shelter might not be central 鈥� and will still be small to meet the need in the Kingdom 鈥� it鈥檚 an opportunity that wouldn鈥檛 have been on the table at all before the new housing law passed, Winterson said. And with a year-round, 24/7 shelter now, people will have a stable place to stay while they connect to other services, like mental health assistance, or housing counseling to help them find places to stay long-term, he said.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e without housing, how are you going to do all the other things?鈥� Winterson said. 鈥淚f you鈥檝e got to worry about where you鈥檙e going to set up every night, especially in Vermont, when it鈥檚 10, or 10 below outside?鈥�
Heath, after filling up his coffee, said he wasn鈥檛 familiar with the new shelter site. When told about the project, he was quick to endorse it.
鈥淭hat鈥檇 be a lot better,鈥� he said.
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