COTS Warming Station

COTS is announcing a new overnight, low barrier shelter with capacity for 30 people to run from January 15th until the end of April. This added shelter capacity, made possible by COTS’ successful acquisition of a former federally owned building, will function jointly with the COTS Daystation shelter to provide respite for unsheltered individuals.

• Open January 15, 5pm through April 30th, 8am Open 5pm to 8am daily
• 30 bed capacity
• Individuals 18 and older
• Low barrier with behavioral expectations
• ADA Service Animals only

Intake and bed assignment at the COTS Daystation, 95 North Ave.

• January 10 10am-3pm
• January 13 1-3:30pm
• January 14 1-3:30pm
• January 15 1-3:30pm

According to the 2024 Point in Time Count, there were 811 unhoused individuals in Chittenden County. 259 people, or nearly 32% were homeless for 12 or more months, a dramatic increase over the usual rate of chronic homelessness. With significant rates of physical disability (19%), persistent mental health challenges (32%), and chronic health conditions (22%), unhoused individuals are in serious need of a full range of adaptive services and wrap-around care. Without significant support, they may continue to be hard to house and struggle with moving beyond shelter.

While services are not mandatory for short-term Warming Station guests, COTS intends to make the full scope of support available, both through adequate staffing on-site, as well as dedicated housing navigation and coordinated entry staff at our Daystation. Guests will also have access to the full range of community partners who frequent the Daystation each week to provide a range of resources including mental health, substance treatment, job training and development, and more.

For more than 40 years, COTS has provided overnight shelter to adults at the Waystation program. The Waystation provides 36 beds and enrollment in Housing Navigation services to support people with a housing plan as they address barriers and challenges. The Waystation shelter is typically full, and in an aging building with limitations due to the physical footprint, yet COTS had limited options to expand based on the cost and timeline to build a new facility or acquire new property.

However, a glimmer of hope sparked this summer when the COTS senior leadership team became aware that a federally-owned property had been identified as a surplus property through the Government Services Agency Asset Disposition program. This program allows for the transfer of property to eligible agencies to serve the homeless population. The building, located at 58 Pearl Street, formerly served as the Social Security Administration offices, but has been vacant for four years.

Upon learning of this opportunity, COTS formed a plan to meet both the urgent immediate needs in our community, as well as plan for the future of our flagship adult shelter program. COTS is proposing to operate a temporary 30-bed Winter Warming Shelter at the site to add capacity throughout the winter months to prevent unsheltered people from freezing outside. In the spring, COTS plans to undergo extensive renovations to create an enhanced version of the Waystation program, expanding capacity by 55% and greatly improving the program space through trauma-informed design and a less congregate model.

This plan would allow COTS to move from a cramped space with dozens of bunk beds split between two “dormitories,” to a flexible configuration of private or semi-private rooms that can be quickly adapted to meet the needs of our guests.

“We have long identified the need for a reimagined Waystation space that is more dignified and trauma-informed than what the current footprint allows,” said COTS Executive Director Jonathan Farrell. “This opportunity would allow us to build for the future of COTS, with direct input from staff and guests.”