BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Lines of people experiencing homelessness used to be seen waiting outside the former Champlain Inn in Burlington looking for a place to stay for the night. Now, a local non-profit is creating permanent housing and a plan to integrate the unhoused back into the community.
Darryl Galloway has been in and out of prison for 30 years. It’s made his housing and job search a challenge.
“My criminality It’s a hurdle because you’ve got people who are like, oh, do I want to rent to this individual? Do I want to employ this individual?” said Galloway.
He has been homeless a few times, but most recently, he’s been living at Champlain Place in Burlington. It’s a new low-barrier shelter overseen by the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity.
“It’s more of a community here so, you have people that are from Brandon or Ferrisburgh,” said Galloway.
He has high hopes with the non-profit’s help that he’ll be able to eventually live on his own.
The building is currently under construction, housing 35 people temporarily, and in the last eight months, eight people have already been transferred into transitional housing or permanent units.
CVOEO Executive Director Paul Dragon says this is the goal for all who stay at the shelter.
“We really focused on bringing on people who can work really really closely to help people move on into permanent housing. So everybody gets a housing plan. They get a timeline, and activity sheet, and we have other services on sight, so really the goal is that this be temporary,” said Dragon.
The non-profit hopes to house at least 70 to 75 people once the renovations are complete, with the addition of a winter shelter.
Champlain Housing Trust owns the property. Executive Director Michael Monte says they want to focus on creating more permanent housing for the unhoused moving forward.
“A lot of our organizations and non-profit organizations are at capacity. And so what we really need to be able to do I think is create more permanently affordable housing. Create more housing which has support services for people who are homeless,” said Monte.