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BRATTLEBORO, VT — A Vermont program that housing advocates say functionally ended homelessness in the state this year may soon be phased out with the upcoming expiration of pandemic-era emergency funding, putting nearly 2,500 people in a vulnerable situation.
And with local demand for shelter likely to increase as a result, two Brattleboro nonprofits have partnered in recent months to refurbish 36 units that people experiencing housing insecurity can rent at subsidized rates.
Windham & Windsor Housing Trust, a real estate developer that manages affordable rental properties in southeastern Vermont, will operate the former Dalem’s Chalet on South Street, which the organization is calling The Chalet. Groundworks Collaborative will provide on-site housing and employment services for residents.
The organizations — which also offer affordable housing at the Great River Terrace development in Brattleboro — have partnered again this year while anticipating the end of Vermont’s rehousing program for people experiencing homelessness, according to WWHT Executive Director Elizabeth Bridgewater.
State officials launched that program in March to reduce the number of people living in emergency shelters, hoping that would stem community transmission of COVID-19. The relocation effort, which Vermont Agency of Human Services Secretary Mike Smith estimated would have an annual cost of $48 million, has moved nearly 2,500 people who had been experiencing homelessness into motels, according to reporting by WCAX.
But the state has been looking since June to replace the program with a more sustainable alternative because the federal CARES Act funding that has largely propped it up is set to expire Dec. 30.
That included making more than $30 million in CARES Act money available through the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to upgrade and expand permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness.
After considering half a dozen properties for development as affordable housing, WWHT purchased The Chalet in September using some of that funding, as well as investments from other public and private financiers, according to a Nov. 18 news release announcing the project.
The Chalet was built by German immigrants in the 1960s for use as a restaurant and lodging and had since been used solely as a residential space.
Bridgewater said she learned about it during a West Brattleboro Association meeting in early 2019 about the 17-acre property’s future. The site was not for sale at the time, but she said the scale and quality of its existing infrastructure, as well as its location in West Brattleboro, made it an intriguing site to host affordable housing.
“I kind of had it in the back of my mind as a really interesting opportunity,” she said.
Bridgewater contacted The Chalet’s owner when the state funding for housing developments became available, and WWHT purchased the property on Sept. 23.
Facing a Dec. 30 deadline to spend that aid, the organization began its $1 million rehabilitation project the following day, she said.
Renovations on The Chalet’s three buildings — a 28-unit structure, a “mini” chalet with seven units, and a single-family farmhouse — have included installing new sprinkler and fire alarm systems as well as energy-efficient windows and doors, according to Bridgewater. WWHT is also making cosmetic improvements by replacing carpeting, paint and furniture.
Seventeen of the units remain occupied from before the organization purchased The Chalet, and most of those tenants plan to stay after the renovation is completed, she said.
Groundworks will be responsible for filling the remaining units through its coordinated entry program, which the organization uses to assess potential clients’ need for both shelter and support services.
Groundworks Executive Director Joshua Davis said approximately 180 people who had been homeless before the pandemic are currently living in Brattleboro motels.
Residents at The Chalet will have access to social services from a Groundworks case manager on the property from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day of the week, in addition to caregivers from the Brattleboro Retreat, a psychiatric and substance addiction hospital, and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, he said. And they can also apply for rental assistance available through state agencies, which Davis said will be distributed based on their income level.
He hopes creating affordable units can help address what he sees as a dangerous housing shortage in the region. (Windham County has a rental vacancy rate of 2.8 percent, according to a February study by the Vermont Housing Finance Authority.)
“We have resources at our disposal that we haven’t had ever in my [nine-year] tenure with this organization,” Davis said. “… And yet, the units are not there to the degree that we need to move people out of the motels and back into housing.”
Echoing his thoughts, Bridgewater argued that high demand for rental units allows landlords to eschew less-fortunate applicants in favor of people with more financial resources.
“I think what happens when you have such a tight housing market is that the most vulnerable people in the community are the biggest losers,” she said.
Bridgewater said Tuesday that construction on The Chalet is scheduled to conclude Dec. 15 and that she hopes all 36 units will be occupied by the end of the year — though Davis cautioned the coordinated entry process involves multiple administrative steps and can take up to six weeks. Groundworks had received nine applications to live at The Chalet as of Thursday, he said.
Davis expressed confidence that Vermont will provide shelter to residents experiencing chronic homelessness through the winter but said he is concerned for when the program ends, adding that the pandemic has highlighted their vulnerability.
“It’s made visible folks experiencing homelessness in a way that typically we’re not able to see clearly,” he said.
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