 Hello, I am Jan Reardon, and I am honored to be able to represent the Jennifer Reardon Foundation. Jennifer is my sister-in-law, and we had lost her tragically five years ago. And right from the start, my brother initiated this foundation with a group of board members that are, I think, unmatched. They're just an amazing group of people, and it's all being done for acts of kindness and keeping Jen's mantra of being kind, loving, caring, and sharing alive. And hats off to my brother, because it's amazing how, you know, five years later the foundation is going strong and the impact has been something that is just measurable and in such a positive way. So with the show, I get the opportunity here with town meeting TV to be able to bring in different guests, and make our resources for us in the Burlington community. And I have had a chance to really talk to some great people today. I'm really excited about, I'll introduce you to Jonathan Farrell in just one minute, but Jonathan is the executive director of COTS. And I just can't wait because as much as I thought I knew about COTS, there's so much more that is happening right here in Burlington. So let me just turn this over to Jonathan Farrell and say thank you so very much for being here, and congratulations on your almost one year right over at the executive director of COTS. But you have been with the organization for how many years? About a dozen years now. Yeah, what a great resource you are. Thank you so much for having us here today. My pleasure. And the reputation that you have, your team, and COTS as an organization is really fabulous. So I'm so excited to hear about what you're doing and any of the details and if there's volunteer support that is needed and on and on from there. But let's start with the mission. In your words, what you feel is though obviously the team is motivated to do and has been accomplishing. And then maybe just touch upon some of the different programs and services that you do offer beyond that emergency shelter that people think was COTS years ago. Absolutely. Thanks. So our mission really is to advocate for long-term solutions to homelessness while providing emergency services. So the overlap is there. And shelter to folks who are experiencing homelessness or who might be precariously housed. We really firmly believe that housing is a fundamental human right. That we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every human life. And we also believe that emergency shelter is not the answer to homelessness. Which is great to hear because as much of a purpose that that has served and unfortunately for many, many years, there's such a cycle. And I do know just from conversations that once people do come through COTS and end up in more temporary to permanent housing, everything changes. And that's what we want in our community is to see people thriving. And then those people, just like when I worked at the Y, we'd have a membership for all and the people that would take part in that needed it. And once things changed and they were in a better situation, then they were giving back. And I mean, that's all you can hope for. If somebody goes through that has a positive experience. So, yes, thank you again so much for taking it out of that emergency shelter type of mentality. Right. I think our name is misleading. We were founded as the Committee on Temporary Shelter. Sure. Back in 1982. 1982, okay. That's what I was wondering, right? Yeah, a young guy by the name of Bernie was the mayor before my time with COTS. He didn't have mittens back then. Yeah. We recently sort of refreshed our branding and our website. And we are sort of leaning into COTS now as opposed to Committee on Temporary Shelter because we do so much more. Right. And while you're on that, Jonathan, just give us your website so that it's out there because it's a really nice website. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. It's COTSonline.org. Okay, perfect. Great. Okay. So you can find out a lot about us there. Exactly. Yeah. We're on the outreach and emergency services. So one of our flagship programs is the Day Station. And this is a drop-in center. We're open 365 days a year. It's for folks who are over the age of 18 and experiencing homelessness. And is that at your main site or where is that? That is right at 95 North Avenue. North Avenue, okay. It's on the North Avenue site. The Day Station is where we meet people often for the first time. Right. And how many people can be at the Day Station at a time? Well, right now we are consistently serving 60, 65 people a day as high as 80 or 90. Again, because we're open every day of the week. We don't close for holidays. We don't close for Sundays. We serve a noontime meal every day to folks who are visiting with us. We also offer showers. We offer laundry facilities to folks. We also bring a lot of community partners into that space. We don't require people to engage in services if they come to visit. Right. But we do maintain a substance-free space. And we expect certain behavioral norms within the space. Absolutely. We also implement harm reduction models. There's a huge opioid substance use crisis happening now. So we're aware of that and we take precautions. We don't check everybody at the door. We don't drug test. But if folks can come in, they want to be in a space that they can get away from that. Exactly. If you're living out sleeping rough, which about 40 or 50% of our visitors on any given day are, everything is right in their face, substance use, theft. They want a nice, safe space. Exactly. So we maintain that. But we bring a lot of community partners in Opportunities Credit Union to help work with folks. The Turning Point Center comes regularly to connect with our folks. That's fabulous. The Department of Labor comes. How long has it been structured that way? Have you had these collaborations? We've had these collaborations for years. Wonderful. Like a lot of things during the pandemic. Sure. A lot of that kind of just came undone. Right. We've been really trying to build back. We have a great relationship with Dr. Pepper Currig. They come serve lunch and offer job opportunities to folks. The Department of Labor is in there regularly. The Burlington Housing Authority comes because they can check on people to see where they are on a wait list for housing in person, as opposed to by mail. We also are the mail depot for probably 1,500 people right now. We have a post office box. So people need an address. They need an address. They need to get those important pieces of mail. Sometimes they're getting their checks in the mail. Right. Right. So we do our best to build relationships with folks in that space by offering those services and kindness. That's beautiful. And making people feel welcome. From there, we hope to get people who are interested into our overnight shelter program. And that definitely is a programmatic shelter. What are the hours of the day station? The day station is open basically 9 to 5. 9 to 5. Very nice. Right. And in the winter we open a little earlier and close a little later. So people have a little extra time to be out of the elements. Our way station shelter, we take an approach we call housing focused shelter. Okay. And where is that located? That is located on Lower Church Street. Okay. Right. We ask that people who are participating in that shelter, one, that it remain a substance-free space and two, that they engage with one of our housing navigators. And the housing navigator role does everything from getting a birth certificate, getting vital paperwork. All those steps that just bog you down too. All of those things before you can do anything. Right. And it's overwhelming. We connect people with that. And we expect that they're working on their housing plan to the best of their ability. So how many housing navigators do you have? We have three. Wonderful. One full-time. Yeah. Doing that work. And of course the shelter staff aids in that are staff at the day station aid in that. They're really sort of joint programs in a lot of ways. Right. Right. We're really happy to say that it's effective. Right? So the first quarter of this year, October through December, 12 people from the way station shelter moved into permanent housing. Permanent. Permanent housing of their own. Oh, that's beautiful. It's super perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is fabulous. Yeah. And then the flip side of that is our family shelter program. So now we have two locations and room for 15 families. So excuse me for one second. Because I was thinking about this earlier. Yeah, sure. But say at the way station, are there families as well as strictly individuals? Okay. Okay. So day and the way station are all individual? All individuals. Okay. And so I was wondering if there was, you know, and I know the numbers, but if that was part of it. So now we move to the family shelter. Right. And where is that located? We have two locations. One's on Main Street and one is on North Winooski. Yeah, North Winooski. Okay. Sorry. North Champlain. North Champlain. Right. Yes. Okay. So it's one program, two locations. We have space for 15 families. Oh. And that's always full. And one location on Main Street houses 10 families at a time. The other five. And how long can a family stay? Is it all dependent upon the scenario that you're dealing with at that time? It's all dependent upon the scenario. We shoot for six months. Wonderful. And we've been hitting that mark lately. Right. But if somebody, again, if they're... But they could have at least six months. They have six months. While they're, if they're actively working, we are not going to... Right. Right. Terminate their stay on the right. Terminate their stay on the right. Right. Right. And remember, I'm sure, I mean, even though that's a gift to 15 families, at least from your end, you can keep track of things very well. Yeah. No, it's great. And in that programming, we've created a space that's very warm and inviting. We use a set of principles we call trauma-informed design, which involves the calming colors, soft lighting. Exactly. Right. And make it feel as relaxing. And it gives so much truth to that. As relaxing as it can be. Right. Because we all process our environment. Right. Yeah. I know with preschools, wherever I've been, boy, you change that paint. And it is, you know, you have to do some research. That's all I can say. That's right. Oh, yeah. That's right. But that is beautiful then. Yeah. It's great. And we embed in that team along with the shelter staff. And the families, of course, are working with a housing navigator on their housing plan. Yeah. We also have a children's education advocate on staff. No idea about this. This is awesome. The children's education advocate helps families navigate all things school-related. So if you were living in Shelburne and then find yourself in experiencing homelessness in Burlington. Right. You are allowed by federal law to stay in the Shelburne School District. Or you could go to the Burlington School District. So you have the choice. You have the choice. Right. And like everything, it's a lot, you know. Exactly. It's a lot to manage on top of. It's a lot to manage on top of. Whatever jobs they're trying to line up. Absolutely. And all the other moving parts. It also includes after-school programs, daycare for young kids. Lining that up. Lining that up. Helping the families line it up. Camps in the summer. Camps in the summer. Vacation. What do you do? Yes. What kid? And the nutritional aspect of it. Right. What kid doesn't want to go back to school and also share what I did on my vacation. Or what I did over break. Right? So we run field trips. Oh, really? So there's activities that go on. Yeah. Kids want to blend in more than anything. Exactly. Yeah. So that's great. And then we also have a mental health, children's mental health advocate on our staff. That's been fantastic. So they engage the families and the kids in all sorts of therapeutic activities. Whether it's art, puppets in education has been in. Right. You know, all kinds of things. Cooking. Just the things that help. Right. And great skills. Great skills. And help the families learn how to regulate. And what do you do when you have to have a tough conversation with your kid. Yes. And all of that. And that is, you know, wrapping the families as much as we can with the goal that when they, as they move on. Right. It'll be a better blend. It'll be a better blend. At that time, skillset that they didn't have coming in. And they will know who to reach out to in the community. Exactly. Right. And it's all about those resources. Yes. Everybody needs them. We all have them and we take them for granted. Exactly. Right. Some people aren't even aware that it exists. I mean. Exactly. Exactly. And then the other piece, we have a motel outreach team. That's been active in the motels since 2020. So how many motels? Well, it was as high as 13. In the Burlington area? In Chittenden County. We're down to, I think, four now. Where most of the households are. So we have a team out doing that navigation work with them. So you take over the motel and have it in its entirety? Or are there certain rooms that you have access to? Yeah. There are folks who are experiencing homelessness who have been put up by the state in the motels. Okay. So we're connecting with those individuals. Oh, yes. Right. For the same sorts of services, housing navigation. Wonderful. Right. Otherwise, where does it stop? Right. And again, in the last three months, 19 households from the motels have moved into permanent housing. Permanent housing. Right. And that's our team working with them, but it's also collaboration with security deposits and funding from CDO and a lot of our community partners because it takes the whole community to do this. But we're really proud of that work because it's hard. Well, and the fact that you have developed those collaborations is where the success really can lie as far as sustainability. Because there's really not any surprises. You know, you have everything, the basics are all covered there to get to that next step without the uncertainty. So I mean, it's wonderful. Yeah. Such a gift for this community. Yeah. We've got another program we run in conjunction with the Howard Center. It's called Family Supportive Housing. Okay. And we started this as a pilot about 10 years ago. And it's now a statewide program. So that's great. That sure is fabulous. Yeah. So what we're doing is collaborating with families that have a significant issues. They have DCF involvement. They're experiencing homelessness. And we work to support those families. Do these people come to you or do you get to them in a different way? There's a referral system. Yeah. So they're on the radar for you to be able to then... Yeah. So we work closely with the Agency of Human Services, Economic Services. Yes. Yes. To identify the families. Wonderful. We're actively expanding that program now to a coordinator and five clinicians. So we'll be able to work with 75 households once it's up and running in its entirety. We're carrying about 15 or 20 on that program right now. So how many employees do you have? I mean... Small but mighty. And do you ever sleep? We're small but mighty. We're under 50, you know. Wow. That's powerful then for... Around 540 full-time, some part-time, some per diem shelter staff. Right. Right. So yeah. So we do a lot. We do a lot with that. We certainly do. And then our last wing is the permanent solutions. Right. So affordable housing. We currently have 90 units of affordable housing across the city and Winooski. And that's an aspect that we're ramping up. Fairness. We're ramping up supports within that. So we're finding these days that the acuity of need is higher than it's ever been. Yes. So being homeless is... And when you say like in this day, I'm just curious, like after the pandemic, did you see a big... That is on Main Street. So it's... In Burlington. Okay. It's adjacent to our family shelter location on Main Street. Wonderful. So how many will be housed in that building? 16 units. Going up now. Fabulous. Oh my goodness. And that's a great location. Right. It's perfect. It's across the street from Edmonds. It's near the library. It's downtown on the bus line. Right. Everything... Talk about pedestrian friendly. Exactly. Right. And it's a great example of both historic preservation because the shelter is in an 1806 building. Oh. It's a construction, you know, downtown where we need housing. Right. Right. I love it. Close to services. All of the units are dedicated to families that have experienced homelessness. Fabulous. We are going to see a lot of folks move from the shelter into the housing. We'll have a lot of folks, a couple of folks from the motels who are living in motels and are moving in. And that's all waiting lists based? Yep. Sort of. I can't even imagine like how many people are on a waiting list? Too many. Oh, absolutely. We have probably 16 or 17 on our wait list for family shelter right now. Right. It's a lot of people. And we have been earmarked. We have been prioritizing families that are in the motel system since June. Right. So about 30% of our referrals are folks who come right from the motels. Right. Into a more supportive environment. So that's what I was going to say. At the motels, there really are not services provided. Not so much. Really not at all. And that's what our motel team does. Right. They knock on the doors and try to meet people. Exactly. And get them connected. Right. Right. So that's fabulous in itself. That's wonderful. Yeah. So, I mean, this is a lot of moving parts and I'm just wondering from a, you know, financial point of view, how, where do the donations come from fundraisers? I know you have a big fundraiser coming up and you do very well with your fundraisers but let's talk about that aspect of COTS. Sure. Sure. COTS is a community-based and foundation donations. And that's, I can't emphasize how important that is. I can't. That allows us to fund a children's mental health advocate position. There isn't grant funding for that. That helps support our leadership team because federal and state grants pay salaries for shelter staff but never for supervision. There's always very little in those grants for the fringe with the things you need to support employees and keep them retained. Exactly. Right. Education, IT, all of that we have to supply. Absolutely. Right. Because it's retention that you need and certainly with what you're doing that retention in those relationships are key. So we have a few, one of our big ones is coming up, the COTS walk. Right. Right. So how many people typically attend the walk? It's upwards to 2,000. Oh, fabulous. Which is fantastic. Yeah, it's always, you know, one of those walks where you know it's, I think the biggest walk in the city. I think it may be. Yeah. A lot of organizations, nonprofits certainly do a lot of walks and I've never, you know, seen as big of a crowd as I have at COTS. And the idea behind that is really to sort of walk in somebody else's shoes. Right. And go past our locations. Yes. To see where the shelter is, where the family shelter is. And how long is the walk? The walk is about 3.1 miles. 3.1 miles? If you do the long version. Yeah. And we have a shorter version for the kiddos. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. And so what's the date on that, John? The date is Sunday, May 5th. Sunday, May 5th. Yes. And then what time? That starts at one o'clock. At one o'clock. Yeah. And then where do you meet down at the waterfront? We start and ends at Battery Park. Oh, good. Okay. Yeah. And there's Ben and Jerry's there. Oh. Thank you, Ben and Jerry's. Yeah. Oh, good. Yeah. And a lot of sponsorship goes into that. So the money that our walkers raise goes directly to our programming. It doesn't go to the porta-potties and the tents. Right, right. So you cover the event. Yes. And then this is money that you can actually put to services. Yes. So we have a lot of generous sponsors who help us with the logistics of that event. Beautiful. Which is great. And what's the history on that? How many years ago did the first walk take place? Oh, my gosh. I know it goes way back. It goes way back. We're well over 35. Yes. That's beautiful. Yeah, yeah. You think of all the walks that have come and gone. Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot of history. And a lot of folks who have been at all of them, which is amazing. Whoa, that certainly is remarkable, definitely. Yeah. So that's a big fundraiser for you. That's a big fundraiser for us. And then what are other events or ways that, you know, people can, obviously they can go to the website and donate. Absolutely. But are there any other, you know, programs that they can support in some other way? Yes. Like even in trading, different services or things like that? Absolutely. We have a lot of volunteer opportunities. Everything from reading with kids in the shelter. Lunch at the day station is a big one. Sure. Because we serve that warm noontime meal every day. Every day. Up to 80 people some days. Most days 50. So that's a crowd, yeah. It's a crowd. It's not your backyard barbecue. Right. Right. But we have a lot of folks who do that as a team building exercise. Oh, yeah. Maybe with colleagues. So some business groups come in. We have some faith groups that come in. Oh, beautiful. We have some individuals, love and blessings as a group that comes in. And twice a month and does the meal for, and a dynamite Christmas dinner. So there are some really generous folks in the community that do that. That is, yeah. And it's an ongoing need for us to feed folks. Sure. So that's a biggie. We also have our phone-a-thon. That's one of our big fundraisers. And it's funny this day and age, you think it might not work, but we kind of adapted it and made it virtual and use cell phones. So yeah, how are you doing that? So walking through, and then when is that? And do you need volunteers for that? We always need volunteers for the phone-a-thon. That's just after Thanksgiving. Okay. Yep. We have, we need hundreds of people to make the calls. Right. Right. And the fun thing is we're calling folks who have donated to COTS. Exactly. So it's not scary. Exactly. They're very familiar with the mission and obviously the good that comes from this. Even in this day and age where people screen their calls and check their cell phone, people pick up the phone and they want to know about COTS and they want to know what's going on and they want to thank the people who are volunteering. Love it. Yeah, that's a community in itself, right? It's a fantastic event that you'd think maybe in this day and age doesn't work, but it still does. It still does, and we connect to a lot of supporters. So how much would you generate from a phone-a-thon? The phone-a-thon raises well over $250,000. Oh my goodness. In one phone-a-thon? In one phone-a-thon. That is very impressive. Yes. Yeah. And it's, again, it's well-established. Exactly. It's people who care about their community, who appreciate the work that COTS has done over the years. Beautiful. Yeah, which is wonderful. We have another great event that's good for volunteering. It's called, we call it now the Back to School Bonanza. Okay. So what we had, we used to do a back-to-school drive. Right. I remember that. We had school supplies. We'd have volunteers stuff the backpacks. Yes. We'd give them to the kids in shelter and kids at Lund and kids at King Street. What we've turned that around and made it a fun event. So the kids get to come. This year, we had a bouncy house. Oh my goodness. We had face paint. That's brilliant. We had haircuts for the kids. And they could go around, and all of the booths were staffed by volunteers. They could pick out their own backpack. Because like, you know. Oh, exactly. What if you get the yellow one? I love the yellow one. So the kids get to pick out their school supplies. There are no books. Just like they should. Cliff was there to give out books. The Ryberg was there to give out books and read stories. We had music. We had to get excited about school too. Exactly. And it's open to the public. It's not just people who are in the shelter. And everything we collect, it's not a fundraiser. Everything goes back into the community. So it's just such a great way to meet families, meet kids. It's beautiful. Oh, it sure is. So then, let's see. I'm going to just check my notes here real quickly and see if we have. Well, I guess with COVID and the pandemic, what has changed from your perspective and how has, like, what are some of the pros now, for instance, instead of always, you know, there's a lot of mental illness and a lot of sadness that came as a result of the pandemic. But can you point to anything good that you think your organization has been able to take away from that very uncertain time? Yeah, yeah, there's a number of things. One, just from operations and workplace standpoint, we're doing a lot more hybrid work with our staff. Interesting. And that's probably, you know, better as far as morale. I think so, yeah. You never thought it could work. And it does. And it's actually better. It's an improvement. So that's a good thing to bring up. It's really interesting. Yes. Really interesting positive. We're all more well connected with Teams and Zoom. Yes. So getting connected with community partners with our friends at the stage. Dreamline that process. You know, we don't have to all meet in Montpelier. Exactly. Or Randolph, you know. So you can, yeah, we can have more flexibility. More flexibility. So I'm finding some connections with other nonprofit leaders. Wonderful. Other shelter providers that we can get together and work on. We're really proud that we were able to keep people safe during the pandemic. Absolutely. Our shelter is a bunk room. There, you know, there's, there's a bunk room for folks who identify as male and a bunk room for folks who identify as female. And a pandemic comes along and like, that's not the greatest. Right. Right. So that's where the Motel program came in. And it was really helpful. Yes. We were able to reduce the number of folks in the shelter to increase personal space. So that was good. So long-term we're looking at sort of recreating our shelter for individuals into a less congregate model. Yes. That's a hefty construction project. Exactly. But it's on the radar now. Right. Right. As a way to. And how far out does your strategic plan go? Well, we look, we try to, we have a, what we call a framework. Okay. And then each. And yeah, we try to refresh it every five years or so. Five years. Wonderful. Yeah. We're looking for a big or new on the horizon for 24, 25. We're looking at one of our. Construction, you have a lot of, you know, development going, which is exciting. We've got the building about to launch. And we're just starting planning for one of our buildings that is a, what we call an SRO model, a single room occupancy. Oh, okay. So think boarding house. Right. Right. Cots remodeled the building in 1991, I think. And it's time for a refresh. But it's all single rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchen. And we're looking to, to expand the model we've used in other development projects to create efficiencies and studios. It really, it gives people, you know, one, the, the privacy should a pandemic arise again. Exactly. But more importantly, it's about the, the sense of dignity and importance. Right. So I have my own space. Exactly. My own bathroom. I have my own kitchen. Yeah. I close my door and. So we're looking at, at that right now. And that's exciting. Absolutely. And what would, you know, a typical building, I'm sure it varies quite a bit, but would it be in that 16 to 20 people range? Or do you, how much, how big are some of the, the buildings that you look at for housing? Yeah. Yeah. Well, this, this particular building is 24 units. Oh, fantastic. So it's, and it'll be, again, we're reusing the space and, and do a planning in addition to create those individual apartments as opposed to just a room. And so is there any federal funding? Like you said, I mean, there's not grants for a lot of things, but, but certain things you can, like construction style and development. Are you able to tap into that? Absolutely. Piece of the pie there. That's awesome. As it should be. Yeah. We do a fair amount of investment ourselves. So our main street building is about a third of the budget is COTS. And about a third is, is federal money that came through the Vermont Housing Conservation Board. That's wonderful. And the other piece is what they call the low-income housing tax credit program for that. So it's complex, but we have some good partners, especially in, And a lot of pieces, thankfully. And that's what you need. Absolutely. Yeah. So we work with, we're working with Evernorth on this, on this project and they help manage the, the tax credit. Right. Appliance. Bundling the funding. Right. Right. A lot of things that are available, again, that some people are not aware of. And then, you know, it just restricts what we do. And then here, this opens up great opportunities. Absolutely. Yeah. But we are done with our show. All right. I can't believe it. This is such a pleasure, Jonathan. Well, thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you. I am so thankful for your time and for all the work that you and your team do. Well, we got kudos to the team. I know. Thank you so very much. You are welcome. Okay.