LEBANON — Over its three years of its operation, the costs to run the winter shelter on Mechanic Street were far lower than they would have been to pay for motel rooms for residents, which had been the practice during COVID.
But unlike the two previous years, in 2026 the city actually would have saved money by putting residents in a motel, at an average of $133 per night, instead of operating the seasonal shelter, Human Services Director Lynne Goodwin said.
Under New Hampshire law, Lebanon is required to provide housing for residents either in a shelter or hotel room.
“We paid more this year, but in previous years we made out better,” Goodwin said.
The shelter, which first opened in late 2023 after the city purchased the building for $400,000, was always meant to be a temporary project and this past winter was its final season of operation.
The city-owned property on Mechanic Street is slated to be torn down to make way for a $6.04 million roundabout project at the intersection of Mechanic Street, Mascoma Street and Slayton Hill Road.
This winter was the shelter’s longest yet. It was at capacity many nights, though the number of Lebanon residents using the facility declined.
In 2026, it cost $159,000 to run the shelter and cover overflow costs for hotel rooms when the 14-bed facility was full, according to data Lebanon’s Department of Human Services presented to the City Council Wednesday.
Lebanon paid $88,400 toward operations, while the state of Vermont reimbursed $53,350 for services for Vermont residents and Upper Valley towns including Claremont, Enfield and Newport also covered costs for residents who used the Lebanon shelter.
Other funding came from Dartmouth Health, a three-year grant from Hanover, private donations and costs absorbed by Upper Valley Haven, which operated the facility.
Over 100 nights from Jan. 3 to April 12, 66 different people stayed at the winter shelter, which was open nightly, a slight drop from 2025.
The more significant drop came in the portion of Lebanon residents using the facility, which went from 30% of all shelter guests in 2025 to just 18%, or nine people, in 2026.
“There are many factors that influence” that change, Goodwin told the City Council Wednesday.
“Over the last year, service providers in the community have worked really hard to help people find housing,” Goodwin said. Several people who used the shelter in the 2024 to 2025 season no longer needed it this year.
But, the assistance is something of a double-edged sword, Goodwin said.
“Many of those folks also found housing outside of Lebanon,” Goodwin said. “So a lot of people are unfortunately having to leave Lebanon because there’s more affordable housing elsewhere.”
The department has also seen a “phenomenon” where some people who have lived in Lebanon for “years and years and years” use their own money to purchase hotel rooms in Vermont and apply for Vermont’s emergency housing program to secure shelter, Goodwin added.
Vermont residents who cannot afford to pay for their own housing and have experienced a “catastrophic situation” or have a “vulnerable member” in their household can apply for the program and secure temporary housing in a hotel room. In the winter, the requirements are relaxed so more people qualify for the program.
In another factor, several unhoused people who used the winter shelter last season had active bench warrants for their arrest, Goodwin said. Last August, the Lebanon Police Department and Grafton County Sheriff’s Office partnered up to find and arrest people with active warrants, including several who used the shelter in other years.
While about 14% of shelter guests self-reported living in Lebanon, Hartford residents made up 26% and 7% came from elsewhere in the Upper Valley. The remainder come from elsewhere in the Twin States, other states, or have “unknown” residency.
The city is only on the hook to provide shelter for Lebanon residents; the cost of shelter for most others was reimbursed by their town or state of residence.
Also of interest to city officials was how long people stayed in the shelter, said Rebecca Desilets, who recently left her role as deputy director of human services. Overall, Desilets said the number of nights people spent at the shelter was up, along with the average age of guests.
Though construction was previously scheduled to start in 2029, funding for the project has been delayed, with the largest investment in the project, about $5 million, now slated for 2030.
Starting in the fall, Upper Valley residents will have access to a new year-round shelter and resource center with 20 beds operated by Upper Valley Haven on the site of the former 25,000 Gifts building at 608 North Main Street in White River Junction.
Lebanon’s Human Services Department plans to continue conducting biannual homeless counts and review data from the new shelter under construction to “see if that meets the need or not,” Goodwin told the Council.
