 Maybe before you get torn around maybe Samantha Dunn who who is responsible for not just this project But really being the assistant director of community works me and she's also been in charge of the Moran frame She's been leading her efforts on Memorial. Can you just sort of summarize for people what's happened on this site up and up until now before? The pallets arrived Getting the site ready we got City Council approval to use this site in March went through the conditional use permitting process through the city of Burlington and Has started site work in August So working with local site contractors while the majority of what's happening on the site is on top of the site It's a temporary project meant to be here for three years. It's going to be able to be Reutilized in different location. We did make water wastewater connections and do electrical Trenching to make sure everything is underground providing services to the shelters on this site There'll be 30 shelters 25 of them you see here from pallet shelter There's five additional shelters coming from a local manufacturer called up and this and they will be here Next by the end of next month and then the two additional Buildings are coming from KBS builders and they will provide six full bathrooms with showers Facilities and then a community space to serve residents on site with offices service provisions kitchen Laundry things like that and those buildings will arrive next month as well Great and then then maybe you can describe these there's you guys just got here yesterday, right? Yep, we did get here yesterday, so Yeah, so we are a pallet We are we're a public benefit company that Provides employment opportunities to people with lived experience in homelessness So we have dual missions one of which is that employment piece And then the second of which is to end on sheltered homelessness across the United States So we specialize in rapid and dignified shelter deployments Not only with these 64 square foot units that you can see here But also larger 100 square foot units bathroom showers laundry and community structures As mentioned we showed up yesterday morning started building it around 10 a.m. And we're probably two hours or so from getting these 25 shelters fully built and Once they're hooked up to power and anchored they'll be ready for folks to move in And they arrived kind of flat on these crates Yep, as you can see they arrived on these custom made shipping pallets they ship upright We can fit about 15 of these structures on a semi truck This is actually a very exciting deployment for us because they are The first highly insulated units that we're shipping out so they have an r-value of seven and a half Which means they will be staying really nice and toasty all throughout Vermont winters Which is obviously very important for our residents great So yeah, why don't we go? Take a tour of one of these and then like Samantha said we'll come back and maybe say a little bit more about the work that still needs to happen and Some some the plans going forward, but let's just go check out these are pretty unique structures and give people a chance to take a look at them Yeah, sounds good. So talk about so let's start with the bases each each Each each structure has a customized base here exactly So there's a couple basic infrastructure requirements for these shelters one of which is relatively flat ground And then the shelters themselves themselves should be shim to level so Your wonderful general contractor here in Burlington constructed these two by four frames to get this ground completely level So we can come in place the base and then build the unit on top of it In addition to that requirement We need an electrical connection to each unit to power the heater the hardwired CO smoke detector the lights And then they'll also be anchored so they can meet your wind requirements here in Burlington And did you say Samantha the power is actually underground to each unit? That's great. Yep So you got the outsides all set up yesterday. Yep with including the roofs kind of get exactly So we have seven panels in total. We have a floor for four walls and then two roof panels So yesterday we threw up all those panels and bolted those together And then today we've been going inside installing the smoke detectors installing the bunks installing the electrical kits the fire extinguishers Making sure everything's working properly So kind of a little bit more broadly about these structures They are very unique and that they're made of all inorganic material. So they're mold mildew rock resistant Unlike what you might see in the wooden structure. You could actually power wash this entire unit. You can bleach it It's very very easy to clean and as the city of Burlington is planning on doing it's also easy to paint So right now they're all white But apparently in a couple weeks there's gonna be some some fun paint included on these units Yeah, we'll come back and talk. We'll talk a little bit more about that Samantha When we when I kind of lead people through what's in each unit. Yeah without a doubt I don't know if people want to kind of squeeze in here. It's a little dark. We don't have power yet So when I have the light on But starting out with basic safety features associated with the shelter hardwired CO smoke detector is incredibly important at the top there We have an emergency E-dress exit here in the bottom of the unit and there's a wall mounted fire extinguisher also in the bottom of the unit Each shelter does have a locking door with two keys and a master key that the site manager will have And of course a bunk and a mattress is so important when we're providing someone with a dignified shelter space Openable lockable windows also very important for ventilation and for light and just quality of life And as mentioned each one of these takes about 45 minutes to an hour to build so we'll build these 25 over two days And I think he said this one sorry, but this it's heated and cooled by a heat pump unit So this unit only has heat. This is a 4500 watt heater We do have the option for air conditioning that would go at the top there that can be installed after the fact Because of the color of these structures that doesn't really heat up like you would in a tent or a car So it pretty much feels like you're in the shade in the outdoors so if folks need AC that can be added on a later day at a later date great and And With Samantha we can go over the one we talked about now the the seating it's it's electric heat This is electric heat. The whole site is electric. There's no fossil fuels on the site So this will get electricity from Burlington Electric Department They've been working with us to make the Efficiency upgrades and the the larger buildings that are coming on site will have Solar on them and that will contribute to the energy, you know off taking the energy load of the whole site Between BED and I think some state and center programs. We've been able to yes secure some essentially net zero funding to make this Certainly for the community buildings and really those will produce more Energy than they consume and so that some of that energy will sort of come towards the bill of these buildings Now these also can be taken down and reused right yeah We can take this down in about half an hour 45 minutes Or you can pick it up with a forklift and put on a flatbed truck and just move it across town Right and they can be packed flat and stored for you know another emergency deployment or relocated We're gonna need to bring you back from Seattle to do that Or is this something with a little bit of training people can a little bit of training people can definitely do it Yeah, so we would like to send out one pallet rep to kind of lead that to lead that process and provide some training But it's very doable And so we've got 25 of these that are now here and almost all all this interior is almost set up on A couple more hours you're saying I'm gonna be done and then there are another five Two unit no single unit. Okay. I have of these can become To bed unit. I see okay I don't know if we have one set up But it's just another one of these bumps goes on that goes on the other wall and we have we specifically ordered materials to have Five of those in case there were two people that who wanted to be sheltered together in this small space We are not anticipating just putting people who are not already wanting to be partnered in a unit together So primarily serving single adults Do you want to say a little more Smith about how? The site has been set up and the kind of strategy are in it sure we have been Closely with Duncan Vosnesky architecture And the civil engineer and our site contractor to figure out how to make this site, which is a you know Was a parking lot work with minimal Interruptions, so we are using the existing stormwater system on site, which means that the parking lot is not level Second-gen builders custom-built each of these platforms to make sure the shelter is level and that the water will continue to move through the site The site has been set up in these sort of clustered neighborhoods where you see the doors facing each other slightly Offset to create smaller spaces We'll get to adding the color to that where people will walk through the site There's an emergency Access lane for emergency vehicles that travels through the site That's 15 feet wide and then the rest of sort of the open space will allow for sort of community gathering space with some garden Beds some shade structures for folks to be able to gather outside great Anything else about the units while you're here been you want to point out or that people should know about I think that's pretty much it and that covers us. Yeah. All right I do want to Introduce a couple other members of the team the city team that have been really Instrumental and making this this project in this project to this point. Here's Brian Pine our Director from from CEDO who? Has really helped usher this through from we've time when we first announced this last December until now And we have Sarah Russell who is our special assistant to end homelessness who? cheer with us today and and I Think whenever we talk about this project, it's important to understand this is one strategy That is part of a larger effort to end homelessness as that title suggests and we'll talk about how this factors into that Welcome city council Joe McGee here And I want to say thank you to Marcel again. Gange as well who has been dedicated to our Homelessness efforts for for years as well and hello David David is a neighbor who has been one of the most? Vocal supporters of this project as well. Thanks for being here David So Thank you all for coming out and being part of this very this is the first time I've gotten to see him I've been driving by whenever I can for Since construction began but it's first time I've seen them all assembled. I was funded I appreciate it. She has to do that with all of you. This is a important Positive day on on the journey towards getting this project Open it's it's not the end of the line yet Why don't you speak a little bit Samantha about what happens from here? I know you touched on it before but just a little bit Yeah, so five more additional shelters coming and then these two common buildings that are really required to be able to Open the site will be coming in November There is power underground that needs to be pulled up and connected to the shelters We've got some important community building Days coming up with the over the next two weekends We'll be inviting community members on to the site to help implement kind of a site-wide mural That's been envisioned with some partners and really excited to do that and build some garden beds So again, we're hoping that the construction of the site is done Before Thanksgiving and I know Champlain Housing Trust is working hard to hire the staff that will be required to be able to open before December 1st I wanted to make sure everyone caught that. You know, I hear right right now from Berlin Tony is almost every time I'm at the at a public coffee like I was this morning or talking to various groups about the challenges We're facing right now. Everyone always wants to know what can they do to help and this project really offers an Opportunity over the next two weekends. There will be these community volunteer efforts that will involve painting the creation of these garden beds and Cito has already been sending out some communications on this There'll be an email going out to about 8,000 folks from the mayor's office shortly as well If people don't get one of those emails, what do they do to how do they best find out information to sign up? Cito Burlington Okay, so so that's an email address, okay The so and again the goal is to have this facility open and operating in November we have As there has been some public discussion of we've been Finalizing the contract with Champlain Housing Trust and finalizing all the details and they are actively hiring and working towards that goal I Often get the question. I think it's important to kind of share while we're standing here You know, how is this going to address the issue of homelessness when we know that there are By the best counts we have a couple hundred people who are chronically homeless right now and What I think the answer that is is that this is one piece of a comprehensive Strategy to end homelessness that the city is currently pursuing with numerous partners the same time we announced this effort last December We also announced the creation of this position Sarah's position the assistant director and homelessness. We also announced the investment in new Strengthening of our coordinated entry system, which is the a county-wide system for using data to an information to help all the organizations that are working on homelessness in one way or another have Shared information and be coordinating with each other and finding the best housing solutions for every individual who is facing homelessness This is going to be a key facility For us in that strategy in that this this allows us everyone living here We'll be working with housing navigators working with several and maybe Sarah you'd like to speak to Brian a number of non-profit partners who are providing different services and Ensuring in a focused centralized way that we're doing everything everything we can to help people get into permanent housing fine jobs get into Drug and mental health treatment programs if that's appropriate for them We've never had a facility quite like this where we we could reach so many people at the same time Do you want anything to that friend Sarah? Why don't you help here now on the service side? I think it's important to recognize that we have a number of organizations providing services. We don't want this to be like Barriers to getting services. So we want to make sure that people get services from who they're comfortable receiving them from and Sarah Can talk more about who are the service providers? We'll be providing some on-site case management services from CBOEO will be one and a half full-time positions here who will be working with people guests who are staying To determine what barriers we may have to helping them to enter housing working on those barriers and moving forward toward Mental health supports medical supports and any kind of substance you substance use Challenges they may have as well but we also have agreements with CHCB will be providing on-site medical and mental health Services here in addition to CBOEO's Cora outreach team. They'll be providing meals and basic needs basic necessities for people as well as connection to resources and Finally, we're working on other Partnerships with other folks to bring services to the site so that people can access services here I think that's something about the site design Morrow that I didn't mention that the community building that will be at the front of the site Anyone that comes on to the site will need to pass through that building will be interacting with staff And have access to all those services right here They won't be required to take a bus to walk to get a ride to access those services And we have heard from other municipalities across the country when Researching how to do this that that has really had an impact on some of their hardest to reach Folks that being able it's some people it might take them a month To be comfortable talking to people but once they're here and they're comfortable and it feels safe They're then able to engage in those Services that are available right here that you know, they're not able to access otherwise I think one Last sort of piece of context and happy to take some questions that is important I think for understanding this project and how it fits into our larger strategy we are we have created this facility at a time when The housing issues the state is facing chinning County is facing our particularly acute for a whole variety of reasons We saw housing production slow down during COVID. We saw increase for Homes throughout the sort of full spectrum of housing types increase during COVID with you know in part because of how successful Vermont was it and appealing Vermont was during the pandemic is one of the places that That weathered that storm better than just to worry about anywhere else We so these these the pressures being we're facing right now You know you add to that to sort of economic uncertainty and volatility at the moment There are really historic acute housing pressures right now We are on a longer-term basis Attempting to build our way and work our way out of this. There's about 400 homes in Burlington that have either recently been completed or will be our Inconstruction right now. There are hundreds more that are in fairly advanced stages of design and planning and on their way towards construction and We we are working towards really some very structural changes to the way Burlington zoning laws change that will create thousands of additional housing opportunities In the years ahead and you know, we are meeting a day after the Planning Commission just took a significant step with those with two of those zoning efforts and worn for public hearing both the south-end rezoning as well as a Trinity campus rezoning that happened Last night at the Planning Commission, which means those Initiatives are on their way to the city council and should be in front of the city council sometime around the end of the year so That's you know, that's I think the larger answer as to How we're gonna end homelessness and hopefully give some sense of how this facility which isn't not only is this intended to be Temporary housing for individuals. This is intended to be a temporary facility that will be here for approximately three years We heard from Ben how these These homes can be moved and reused elsewhere And we are already in discussions with Champlain Housing Trust And starting this through a stakeholder discussions about what would happen after three years to the site from my senses should remain Permanently part of the housing solution in Burlington, but we're just at the beginning of the conversation what that looks like so with that Happy to answer any other questions that people have Do you have any idea? Yeah, we are working with CHT as the operating partner to determine policies and procedures We haven't quite honed in on exactly how that will be determined However, we have been consulting heavily with the outreach teams Who work within Champlain County to be able to begin to identify folks who might be a good fit for the shelter Are you taking applications yet? No, there's no applications at this time like I said, we're still working through the policies and procedures and if someone is Currently without housing and interested in obtaining shelter. They should be reaching out to 2-1-1, which is the current resource And as we move closer to opening here People should begin to connect with outreach workers from the Burlington Police Department from Howard Center or from CBOEO Or State Heavar Clinic if they're interested in accessing shelter At this location. Have you gotten a sense as to how many people are interested? I don't I don't have a sense of how many people are interested, but what I can say is from our most recent Data indicates that there are about 70 people who are unsheltered outside In the city of Burlington about 10 to 15 additional folks beyond city limits In other towns within Chittenden County So while there are, you know, 30 to 35 folks who could be helped at this location We're still not able to fully meet the need of our unsheltered population in Burlington We have not like I said, we're still working on screening and developing those policies with the operating partner CHT We have had some conversations with H-Well and Chittenden County And they if there are people who fall within their Within their service range in terms of older folks or people who have disabilities They will actually come on site to provide Each specific case management for that population. Why answer a temporary pod Community why only three years? so Let me answer a couple questions of that one you didn't quite ask but you know first of all It's important that this is an emergency shelter The rules of it being an emergency shelter will be in place the it is I Think important if this is going to play a significant role in reducing that number of people that are unsheltered living outside If this is you know really going to help us Move people towards permanent housing I think it's important that it keeps that status and is this resource that are the social workers that are Working with individuals who are living outside Are coordinating with it that that's what this is it's an emergency shelter You know Pat It is certainly my hope and belief that we shouldn't We shouldn't need this facility three three years from now, you know before the pandemic We had about 35 chronically It varied a little bit but at one point our lowest point we had about 35 chronically homeless individuals We had a much lower population of people who were on you know unsheltered living outside We've got to work our way back to that and beyond we want to end homelessness and when we achieve that we won't Need exactly this facility anymore. We may need something. I'm not saying our need for some level of temporary shelter is going to go away entirely But I think this is a moment where things are particularly challenging and this is an Emergency facility set up for for this moment and we got to work ourselves to a better place Yeah, that's very that's very clear that this is There are some details that are being still worked out about screening, but this is always been planned as a Low barrier shelter meaning that it is one that people will not be Prohibited from if they're still actively actively using it is specifically again This is a facility that we hope is a more appealing option for some of the people who are Currently live, you know living in some of these public lands We want to create a more flexible more appealing type of Emergency shelter than some of the other options that people have had available. So it's it's definitely gonna be a low barrier facility That has a particular focus on trying to bring down the number of people who are unsheltered and living and sleeping outside And I think what we know about substance use is that when we when we provide safe places for people to be Then they are more willing to build trust in this system that they haven't always trusted So we'll have on site recovery groups from the turning point of turning point center of Chippin County in addition to potentially Working with the Vermont criminal justice reform group around some of their Overdose education and prevention efforts as well that will also be available on site So I think one of the things I'll throw in is that while you all you know We're walking around and looking at these shelters and while we're thinking about the people who are unsheltered You know outside These have doors with locks on them and the level of safety and security and respect that That the people will have here is much greater than in other places And we're hoping they can really use that safe place as a platform to access additional services So it's a really good point about that I just want to amplify what Sarah is saying about we are You know Chippin County was doing pretty well in 2018 and 2019 Relatively speaking with respect to the opioid crisis. We were seeing our overdose death numbers had come down by 50% They stayed at that lower level in 2019 all the some of the other metrics we were tracking were going in the right direction at the time It seemed like this hub and spoke system that the state of Vermont had set up and that we had sort of Added to here in Chippin County. We started calling it a hub spoken node system was really getting was really getting many people into opioid treatment medically assisted treatment and we were seeing good outcomes for large numbers of people it's really quite heartbreakingly clear that we've had a real setback on that front during the pandemic and that's what's followed I think some of that is the pandemic some of that is also The change in the kind of dominant drugs that are being used right now being fentanyl and and meth and meth the one of the things we continue to convene dozens of stakeholders every month in a meeting that I lead called the community staff meeting and One of the things that has become clear over the last year there is it is harder because In large part because of fentanyl and the way the body reacts to fentanyl is harder to get people into treatment And it's easier for people to fall out of treatment if they are fentanyl users this Working with people getting them on To a steady regime of taking medicines is more labor-intensive. It takes different strategies I'm quite hopeful that working with people in this setting. I think it's very likely that a significant number of people living here will have opioid use disorders that we will be able to work with them in a new way and And and and and help them move to a better place in a different way So I see this facility is in a sense addressing not just the homelessness crisis, but also this related but separate crisis that we have with illicit drug use A couple of things that come to mind but one in terms of opening you're thinking late November early December It sounds like some of that's contingent on cht hiring positions Do you want to speak to sort of yeah, is there a concern that like, you know, I know labor's Forces an issue right now that there might not be the workforce to open on time It seems like you're building everything relatively quickly We're building and I know Champlain housing trust is is working hard to hire the people required I think there has been a slight Softening in the labor market, which was one of the reasons that Champlain housing trust sort of agreed To enter into a contract with the city of Burlington That was one of their major Concerns and kind of why why it took so long for us to get here in these discussions So I think we're feeling confident that cht is working hard. I think all of us are we're working together To staff up the facility to get it open And on a point of I know you don't have the eligibility or figuring out who's going to be in but is it permanent in It's not like the motel program where it's like a 90-day stay These are going to be relatively like you're here you're here for we'll follow the zoning regulations for emergency Shelter, which is a 60-day Stay with the opportunity six months with the opportunity to extend a hundred and additional hundred and eighty days So we'll be working within those zoning regulations But yes, it's a much longer program and not a need to reapply every month and things like that Okay, I was curious who you guys looked as whether locally in Vermont or nationally across anywhere in the country that You guys took as a frame of reference for a project like this where you guys took inspiration from We did and this is a team that did a lot of the Heavy lifting on this but this is As we heard from Ben earlier where there's something like a hundred of these approaching a hundred of these communities that Have been set up in cities around the country as we were considering this strategy the CEDO team looked at Many of these examples that you know might be a little bit ahead of us and we did take Confidence from the way in which those were operating that this was This was a good idea that this was something we could get done and it would have a have a positive impact I'm you know encouraged to hear from From Ben that this is you know I think when we have this installation complete and set up I think it won't compare well to any comparable installation in the country appreciate the focus on design on details that make this really you know community in a neighborhood to live in as opposed to you know Just some something less than that. So we're pretty excited and proud about how this is coming together Yeah, there are examples on our website of links to other communities who have found success with this project with these kinds of projects as well and The factors in their success are much of what the mayor has just has mentioned around sort of building a sense of community strong interaction with the community with the neighborhood around making sure that you know That the folks who are living here are also learning skills about being valuable neighbors and parts of their communities in addition to respecting their space So there are certainly some best practices and different kinds of policies that we've looked at from other communities as well Mayor you Promoted this project in last December as part of your 10-point plan What do you make of seeing it almost ready to open less than a year later? And how important was having the ARPA funds to kind of nudge it through? I Think the ARPA funds were critical it would have been very very difficult to Move so quickly in a project like this without that kind of support from the from the federal government You know similarly we We were able to set up the work, you know a new place really led the way by the city working with them a Shelter there a very short period of time and we have This period of federal investment will serve this community well for for for years years to come I I do think this team has worked really well to make this project move Remarkably quickly if you compare it to some of the other projects that we talk about it and then focus on at the same time I think a project like this that is an emergency project that is trying to respond to emergency Conditions should have been even easier to set up and one other thing that we haven't I believe gotten done at this point Or it's not done, but it's in the works is a zoning change that would Make it easier for future emergency shelters to be permitted and set up so that they don't have to go through the Process is really intended for permanent projects that are going to be here In the community You know essentially permanently where I where where where are we with that zoning change? I think that zoning change is sitting with the planning commission. There was you know lots of questions and Not full agreement and the decision was made. I think because this project did receive its Permit and was able to move forward to focus on some of the other zoning change initiatives that are going to bring permanent housing So I think it's still on the table and it's something that we should still be looking at in the city of Burlington So it's sort of a not totally dormant Zoning change at the planning commission. Thanks for that update. Glad we're getting the south end and Trinity campus first But we will make sure we come back to that skin. It really this project like this shouldn't be subject to the same appeals and delays that That You know, frankly, I don't think the rest of the system should be subject to the same appeals and delays either But we should start with these emergency facilities It's probably noting to that the state of Vermont really supported our effort in terms of the operating fund So they made a large commitment to cover the cost of staffing the shelters. So that was really pivotal as well Yeah, it'll be a reimbursement contract So it'll be based on their costs that they incur but they will be fully covered for that cost We're not asking she'll paint housing trust to come in and fund that themselves. Yeah Yeah, I want to add to Brian's point that I would say that the state has been not only my financial partner But they've been an operational partner Jenny Samuelson the secretary of the agency of human services has personally been involved in working with us working with nonprofits to make sure that this facility that we were able to come to an agreement for management and Helping us find partners for the for the other services as well. So I We very much appreciate the partnership. We wouldn't be here without Without the governor's support and without the secretary's personal involvement in getting through some of these challenges I think a concern here so in terms of thinking about like the harm reduction strategies that are going to be putting in place here, I guess If you give any sense of what that's going to look like like I know there's gonna be staff here But obviously you're gonna have like training in Narcan like Narcan available giving it to residents Just what sort of harm reduction are you looking at? Yeah, of course. So we will have Narcan available here on site And staff will be trained and how do you administer that? I also have recently reached out to I think it's the National Council on harm reduction to identify some potential trainings for staff as well I think it's important that that staff is is comfortable and obviously ready and able to Utilize Narcan as needed and it will be handed out without You know without stipulation to people. I also wanted to mention that As I said earlier Vermont criminal justice reform has a new grant that they will be Utilizing in the community and enrolling members who are interested in overdose Education specifically around testing for fentanyl and that program will be available to people who are guests on site here as well It's another just just real quick It's another benefit of this location is there were just a few blocks away from the safe recovery location the needle exchange where we also that is one of our nodes in the treatment system and It is I think another benefit of this location that it should be physically so Close to these additional level of ongoing Needle and medical cases of treatment services You mentioned earlier that this place would be staff for people coming in and out will that be and as well as for for these type of Emergencies that would that be a 24-7 type of thing because you know these things happen at weird hours We'll be staffing in accordance with the zoning regulations which require two people to be on site for every 35 gas Or 25 gas 25 But yes, the site will be staffed 24 hours a day seven days a week anymore If we could You