WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — After exceeding its fundraising goal of $10.2 million in just under nine months, Upper Valley Haven is preparing to open a new low-barrier shelter and resource center off Route 5 next spring.
The Haven celebrated the groundbreaking for the project at 608 North Main St. — the site of the former 25,000 Gifts shop — last month.
“I couldn’t be prouder of them or more thankful for the generosity of spirit and compassion for our unhoused neighbors expressed by the hundreds of donors to this project,” Michael Redmond, executive director of Upper Valley Haven, said in a news release this week. “Lives will be saved. Hope and possibility for different futures will be restored.”
The fundraising goal was met through private donations and public grants, such as $2 million from the USDA Rural Development, $1.5 million from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, $500,000 from Vermont Office of Economic Opportunity, and $125,000 from the City of Lebanon.
The rest was made up of private donations of various sizes from over 320 individuals and groups.
The Haven has $7.5 million available for construction, including demolition, construction, architectural, legal, and engineering services.
There’s also at least $2 million set aside for operational costs, which is expected to last for the first five years of the program. There will be at least two staff members on site at all times, one during the day and another at night.
The 9,000-square-foot building will have two floors, the upper floor serving as the sleeping area and the lower a designated resource center.
Anyone will be able to come into the building and have access to phones and computers, public benefit navigation help, and application assistance for housing and jobs. There will also be community service coordinators from organizations like Good Neighbor Health Clinic, which offers medical care at no cost.
The new location will provide meals, showers, charging outlets and semi-private sleeping spaces. It’s also on an Advance Transit bus line, connecting guests to outside resources. The shelter will sit just about a mile away from the Haven’s central building, which further connects people with resources.
With the new location, the Haven aims to expand the functions of the winter shelter in Lebanon.
The Lebanon shelter, which the Haven operates, is only open three months out of the year. In addition to warming people in the winter, the White River Junction location will further serve as a cooling shelter on hotter summer days, which have recently stricken the Upper Valley.
The new shelter, which will have 20 beds compared with the winter shelter’s 14 beds, also is expected to better meet the region’s demand for shelter. On average, two people per night had to be turned away from the winter shelter on Mechanic Street in Lebanon due to insufficient space. Those who could not find rooms at the shelter were placed in hotel rooms, which were charged to Haven and local governments.
The Haven also operates Byrne House Family Shelter, which has eight temporary housing units with no maximum length of stay, and the Hixon House, an adult temporary shelter with 20 beds. Both are located off Route 5 near Hartford High School. Neither are emergency shelters, as they house people for longer periods of time.
The Haven prepares to open the new shelter amid a housing crisis in Vermont and New Hampshire. Vermont had the fourth highest rate of homelessness in the nation, according to a 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In the Hartford area, there are an estimated 175 unhoused individuals, according to the Haven’s website. There were 58 in lower Grafton County, per the region’s 2025 winter point-in-time count.
Lukas Dunford can be reached at ldunford@ vnews.com or 603-727-3208
