Donations - Committee on Temporary Shelter
Though most people picture postcard-perfect countryside when they think of our home state, behind all that remarkable scenery is another Vermont where poverty and chance often conspire to create homelessness.
According to the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness, each year as many as 4,000 of our fellow Vermonters end up without a place to live. Many of these families and individuals can be found in Burlington, Vermont’s largest city. And it’s here that COTS, the Committee on Temporary Shelter offers both hope and housing to people in need. In the 25 years since its founding, COTS has grown from a single small facility with just a handful of beds into a diverse social service agency that offers everything from emergency shelter and transitional housing to counseling services and financial assistance.
Recently, the organization has begun an effort to do more than simply deliver aid to those who need it. It’s started a drive to prevent the root causes of this national problem and end homelessness in Burlington once and for all. Working with landlords and housing agencies, COTS has been at the forefront of efforts to both preserve existing affordable housing and create additional places for low income people to live. As a result of their leadership, many affordable apartments have been saved from the wrecking ball. Maintaining this housing stock for those who need it most has been a key part of our region’s largely successful efforts to stem the rising tide of homelessness.
With multiple separate facilities serving different homeless populations, and a large staff that helps our neediest neighbors every day, COTS is a private charitable organization forever in search of funding for its vital work. We’re more than happy to provide some of that much-needed support and help ensure that everyone in our city has a place they can call their own.
