What We Do

Charter House serves adults experiencing homelessness in and around Addison County, Vermont. The shelter, which operates 365 days per year, provides safe, comfortable temporary housing for up to 25 individuals while professional staff provide housing case management, a meal program for shelter guests and anyone else who needs a meal, and street outreach. Charter House is the lead agency for coordinated entry and referrals in Middlebury.

Meet Our Board

Mary Jane Nottonson, President

Mary Jane is a healthcare management professional with a career in skilled nursing administration. She has served on the Charter House Board for several years and became president in 2025. She moved to Addison County in 2017 and enjoys nordic skiing, hiking, bicycling, and gardening. 

Stephen Diehl, Vice President 

Stephen is associate director of public affairs at Middlebury College and is pleased to bring his many years of professional communications experience to the Charter House board. A lifelong Vermonter, Stephen is a fast walker, a slow runner, and an avid hiker who loves being out in the Vermont landscape.

Walter Stugis, Secretary

A former Charter House Board president, and a graduate of Hamilton College and the NYU graduate business school, Walter enjoyed a long career in marketing for national clients. At Charter House he is focused on securing grants from private foundations and corporations, and manages marketing.

Grover Usilton, Treasurer

Grover has been a member of the Charter House Board since October 2024.  Grover worked for the National Bank of Middlebury for 25 years. He was previously a board member of the Addison County Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Addison County. 

Judi Ellwood

Judi has had a 45-year career as a nurse, and for the past twenty years worked in a Federal Qualified Health Center (FQHC) as a Nurse Practitioner. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a Masters of Science with an emphasis on psychiatric/mental health nursing.

Nathan Hayes

Nathan Hayes works as a Sergeant at the Middlebury Police Department. He supervises Field Training at the department and is an EVOC (Emergency Vehicle Operation Course) Instructor at the Vermont Police Academy. 

Jason LaRocque

Jason is a founding partner of Otter Creek Engineering, now serving as president.

He  serves on a number of community boards, including as Chair of the Patricia A. Hannaford Regional Technical School District and the Middlebury Development Review Board.

Amanda Mowle

Amanda is a practicing attorney with a focus on litigation, criminal defense, family law, general practice and assisting victims in navigating the legal system while preserving their rights.. She holds a B.A. from Lehigh University, J.D. from Vermont Law and Graduate School, and an LL.M from McGill University.

Riley Nebolsine

Riley is a current student at Middlebury College, studying geology and religion. Riley began volunteering at Charter House Middlebury’s rugby team, and later became active as an independent volunteer and became the rugby team’s volunteer coordinator for Sunday dinners at the house.

Wendy Warren

Wendy came to Vermont in 1976 and graduated from Green Mountain College with a degree in Business Management. 

She currently works in mental health for the Counseling Service of Addison County (CSAC) and has also worked with developmentally disabled clients.

Vicky Wideman

Vicky has been involved with Charter House for over a decade and previously served as president of the Board of Directors. Over the years, she has enjoyed engaging with guests, helping out in the kitchen, coordinating the vegetable gardens and working with Middlebury College interns. 

Keegan Gilsenan, Middlebury College Alumni Liaison to the Board

Keegan, a 2025 graduate of Middlebury College, served on the board as a student through his position as president of the Middlebury College Charter House Coalition Student Organization. Keegan stepped down from his position on the board after landing a job teaching history in his hometown of Greenwich, CT. 

History

Charter House Coalition was chartered as a 501c3 in June 2006 when a few concerned community members realized there was a growing need for emergency shelter and meals in Addison County. A group of volunteers from the Middlebury Congregational Church launched the Community Suppers and Pleasant Street Community Housing programs a few months later.  

Community Suppers served free warm and nutritious meals each Friday evening year-round, often serving 250 meals each week. The housing program began small, providing shelter for homeless people on an emergency basis.

In 2009, in response to increasing need within the community, Charter House Coalition responded again with two new programs: Community Lunches, and the Charter House Warming Shelter. Community Lunches grew to serve upwards of 50 lunches each day in our dining room and provided vital human connections for many at-risk community members. 

The Charter House Warming Shelter began by providing a warm, safe place to sleep from mid-October to mid-April for up to 24 adults. In the early days, we also operated a separate shelter space for up to five families with children.  

Growth to Meet Increasing Demand

Support programs steadily grew and we were designated by the State to be the Lead Agency for Coordinated Entry in Addison County – that means we are responsible for coordinating with all of the other social service agencies and affordable housing organizations to make sure that everyone that is homeless or at risk of being unhoused gets the support and referrals necessary to assist them to reach their permanent housing goals.

In 2019, Charter House provided 40,000 meals and 4,500 “bed nights” for people in need (a bed night is one person spending one night in the shelter). We were getting better and better at what we do, and doing more and more of it. That included keeping the shelter open even during the warm months because people deserve to have a safe place to sleep and a dignified connection to the community…even when it’s warm outside. 

Rising to the Challenge of Covid

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Vermont, hundreds of people in distress were sent our way from all around the state, and from beyond Vermont’s borders. Initially, we emptied the shelter to avoid a potential outbreak from the close-quartered congregate living, moving people to local hotels with State assistance. The community meals program converted to take-out only.

We eventually moved adults back to the shelter under strict Covid protocols, while also caring for approximately 100 people still in the hotels. Our kitchen served between 200–300 meals a day and our staff and volunteers delivered those meals to hotel guests’ doors, also making daily health and well-being check-ins. In 2020 our meal count shot up to over 90,000 and our “bed nights” went up to over 24,000. In 2022, bed nights were 35,000 and meals increased to 106,000.

Along the way, with emergency relief funding, we made significant upgrades to our shelter facility including a fresh air ventilation system, an outdoor pavilion, an elevator, new flooring, and shower and bath upgrades.