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Continuum of Care services for the homeless in the greater Burlington
metropolitan area are delivered through a consortium of nonprofit organizations,
housing developers, and the Burlington Housing Authority. The Continuum Alliance
also includes government agencies and two local business associations. The
private, nonprofit Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) serves as the
coordinating entity for the Continuum of Care system. Components of the
Continuum include:
- Prevention: Services include back rent assistance, home heating fuel aid,
transportation, tenants' rights advocacy and legal representation. The Continuum
also works with the State of Vermont's Department of Prevention, Assistance,
Transition and Health Access to expand the scope of TANF and Welfare-to-Work
funds and to increase prevention resources for families facing evictions. The
Fair Housing and Weatherization programs run by the Champlain Valley of
Economic Opportunity also serve as prevention resources.
- Outreach, Intake, and Assessment: Peerworkers, funded through the McKinney
P.A.T.H. Program as well as the AmeriCorps Program, provide aggressive street
outreach and assessment to identify a person's or family's needs and to make
appropriate referrals for medical treatment, mental health services, substance
abuse counseling, coordinated case management and vocational services. Outreach
is a collaborative effort between nonprofit agencies. There are also specialized
street outreach and assessment programs for homeless youth, homeless persons
with HIV/AIDS, and homeless persons who are mentally ill. In the past year, our
Continuum has added two full-time staff to reach out to homeless mentally ill
persons.
- Emergency Shelter and Shelter Services: There are eight emergency shelters
in Burlington. COTS Waystation and the Burlington Emergency Shelter provide
emergency overnight shelter to single adults, including veterans. COTS
Daystation is a drop-in center for homeless adults and families, and is the
central location for accessing support services. COTS Firehouse and Main Street
Family Shelters serve homeless children and their families, and the confidential
shelter operated by Women Helping Battered Women serves homeless women and
children fleeing domestic abuse. Spectrum Youth and Family Services operates a
one-stop shelter for homeless youth, and the Howard Center for Human Services
operates a Safe Haven in Burlington for the mentally ill homeless.
- Each shelter offers case management and housing search assistance to help
participants move quickly out of shelter into transitional or permanent housing,
with necessary follow-up support for maintaining housing.
- Supportive Services: Community-based organizations provide job training
and placement, substance abuse counseling and referrals for treatment, medical
and dental care, legal advocacy and representation, mental health counseling and
residential treatment programs, child care, housing search assistance and
security deposit assistance.
- Transitional Housing: Homeless families can access transitional housing at
COTS Families in Transition Program for up to two years while they work on
educational and career goals and save money for permanent housing. The Howard
Center's Transitional Housing Program, "Branches," provides
transitional housing for homeless persons with mental illnesses. Spectrum also
provides several units of scattered-site transitional housing for youth in the
community.
- Last summer, COTS opened a new transitional housing program (the Smith
House) that provides seven single room occupancy units and two two-bedroom
units. A local church donated the building to COTS in July 2000 and COTS raised
over $340,000 in private gifts and local and state funds to complete the needed
renovations and bring the building up to code.
- Permanent and Permanent Supportive housing: Burlington's inventory of
permanent supportive housing includes a range of SRO housing. In addition, a
wide variety of permanent housing options exist due to the collaborative efforts
of city government, local public housing authorities, nonprofit housing
developers, and private landlords.
- COTS Rental Opportunity Center has recruited over 130 landlords to accept
Section 8 subsidies and helps those seeking housing to effectively present
themselves as prospective tenants. Aggressive lobbying by the Continuum four
years ago resulted in a $10 million appropriation to the Vermont Housing &
Conservation Board for the development of new units of housing for very
low-income families and individuals.
Continuum nonprofits are funded through
a combination of federal, state, local, private and United Way funds. In this
program year, the City is providing CDBG grants for a number of local Continuum
programs; information on those grants can be found under "Protecting the
Vulnerable" in the One-Year Action Plan. In addition, the City Housing Trust Fund provides
operating support to COTS for the Waystation and the Rental Opportunity Center,
and provided project support for the Smith House renovation. Several local banks
support the continuum through direct financial contributions and through
financing of permanent and permanent supportive housing projects. The Continuum
submitted an application for HUD Continuum funding in June 2002 (with
Certifications of Consistency from the City) for the renewal of the Howard
Center's Branches and Safe Haven housing programs.
Page last updated May 13, 2003
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