Plan would double St. Johnsbury homeless shelter beds, free up space for families

Carly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger.

More emergency shelter capacity is in the works in St. Johnsbury.

The Northeast Kingdom nonprofit developer Rural Edge is under contract for a former Moose Lodge, which it plans to convert into a 40-bed, low-barrier shelter. The anti-poverty organization Northeast Kingdom Community Action is set to operate the site.

The two groups joined forces three years ago to open the region’s only year-round, general-occupancy homeless shelter, quickly converting an old church into 20 emergency beds after a new state law cleared zoning restrictions for the site. 

Once the Moose Lodge location is ready for occupancy, the organizations plan to transition individuals from the existing shelter on Moose River Drive to the new space. Then, they’ll convert the old building into a shelter specifically for families. There are currently no dedicated family shelters in the Northeast Kingdom. 

“The need for emergency shelter has never been greater in the Northeast Kingdom,” said Jenna O’Farrell, executive director of Northeast Kingdom Community Action, in a press release. “Expanding The Shelter at Moose River will allow us to serve more of our neighbors during times of crisis while strengthening the support systems that help people transition to stable, permanent housing.”

After state cutbacks to the pandemic-era motel voucher program, the community has seen increased need for shelter options, said Patrick Shattuck, executive director of Rural Edge. According to Northeast Kingdom Community Action, the Moose River Drive shelter currently gets about 10 referrals a week, and maintains a waitlist of 10 to 15 people.

The groups originally looked at building out more space at the Moose River Drive location, but decided it would be too challenging to keep all guests sheltered while the renovations were underway, Shattuck said. Then the Moose Lodge, a large, single-story building about a quarter mile away, came up for sale.

Rural Edge hopes to finalize the acquisition of the Moose Lodge building by the end of this year, with the aim of opening the new shelter before the 2027-2028 winter season. The renovated space will contain semi-private individual spaces for guests.

As of May 2026, there were over 100 households experiencing homelessness in Caledonia and Essex counties, according to Coordinated Entry data. A regional housing study from 2023 found that over 2,100 households in the Northeast Kingdom were on waiting lists for subsidized rental housing – more than 3.5 households for every unit.

The purchase of the new building costs about $460,000, Shattuck said. Preliminary estimates to renovate both the existing shelter and the new space total about $4 million, he said. Earlier this summer, Rural Edge received $50,000 from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to advance plans for the project, and is currently soliciting donations.

St. Johnsbury Town Manager Chad Whitehead said he’s only received positive feedback from neighbors about the current shelter location. He sees the need for expanded options, as he’s observed people sleeping outside of the downtown Welcome Center.

“There are people that recently have been sleeping on the porch. That’s not a long-term solution for anybody, especially as winter gets here,” he said.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Plan would double St. Johnsbury homeless shelter beds, free up space for families.