Morgan Brown: Building a community of hope

This commentary is by Morgan Brown of Montpelier. He recently retired from engaging in volunteer citizen advocacy and activism, and is now a blogger and writer. He previously lived unhoused over the course of many years of his adult life.

During the Montpelier City Council meeting held on the evening of Aug. 28 , the potential sale and development of the 12-16 Main Street lot came up for discussion.

This had previously been the site of the former Guertin Parklet structure, which the city had removed over two years ago , amidst the height of controversy and NIMBYism concerning people living unhoused outdoors who were occupying the small gazebo because they had nowhere else to go.

My personal vision for the currently vacant property would be to have a four- and possibly up to six-story structure designed, developed and built that would house a bottle and can redemption center, as well as a community center located on a lower floor, an emergency shelter with single rooms for people living unhoused outdoors above that floor, with transitional housing units above it, and permanent housing for the same population above that floor.

If there were six floors to the structure, it could possibly include a parking area underneath the redemption center as well as community center floor, yet still be built above the floodplain as required by the city’s zoning code and policy. The sixth floor could be mixed housing. Either that or — absent a parking area underneath — the fifth and sixth floors could both be dedicated to mixed housing. The building would also include an elevator in order to provide much needed accessibility to those who require it.

The bottle and can redemption center could primarily employ people who were currently living unhoused as well as those who had formerly lived unhoused as paid employees.

Among other functions that it could serve, the community center could become the primary meal site providing meals to members of the community as well as the surrounding area, currently served by various churches and hosted at Christ Episcopal Church on State Street on weekdays, but do so seven days a week and serve both breakfast and lunch.

Besides the usual volunteers, the meal site could train as well as employ people in the culinary arts who are currently living unhoused or formerly lived unhoused as paid employees, helping to prep them for further employment in commercial kitchens and restaurants in the region as well as beyond.

This is not merely worth dreaming, envisioning and hoping, but, in my opinion, is definitely very much worth doing for the benefit of the entire community.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Morgan Brown: Building a community of hope .