City officials in Barre and Burlington have begun to open emergency shelters in response to dangerously cold temperatures that descended on the state Monday and are forecast to persist in the coming days.
In Burlington, the shelter at the Miller Center, located at 130 Gosse Court, is expected to be open from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday night through Thursday morning. The low-barrier shelter, which is being operated by the city and the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, is open only to adults. People can simply show up at the shelter or access free transportation from the Community Resource Center or the Fletcher Free Library.
According to a press release issued by Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak’s office, more than 250 people in the region are currently unsheltered.
In Barre, officials opened a shelter in the basement of the Barre Auditorium on Sunday night. It’s expected to remain open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. through Thursday. City officials are working with the Red Cross and local volunteers to staff the facility, which will also provide meals.Â
The National Weather Service’s Burlington office has issued a hazardous weather outlook, warning of dangerously cold temperatures Monday that are expected to remain through Thursday. Wind chills could drop as low as 10 to 20 degrees below zero.Â
Last week, the Committee on Temporary Shelter opened a winter warming shelter in Burlington that’s expected to remain open through April, and Good Samaritan is again operating its winter shelter at the Elks Club in Montpelier.
But shelters across the state are generally full, and the state’s motel program, which houses people when traditional shelters are at capacity, has also been turning people away this winter due to a lack of available rooms.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Frigid forecast prompts Barre, Burlington to open emergency shelters.