February 19, 2026
By John Flowers, Addison Independent
MIDDLEBURY — Persistent snowfall and frigid temperatures during this particularly harsh Vermont winter are putting a strain on the county’s two emergency shelters as they try to protect the local homeless population from at-times perilous outdoor conditions.
Both the John Graham shelter in Vergennes and Middlebury’s Charter House Coalition (CHC) emergency shelter have been consistently full this winter, with waiting lists at both locations. The John Graham Housing & Services (JGHS) shelter at 69 N. Main St. in Vergennes offers eight rooms for houseless families, while the CHC shelter at 27 North Pleasant St. in Middlebury maintains 26 beds for houseless individuals.
While the CHC shelter is limited to 26 guest beds, it has permission from the state of Vermont to open an “overflow” space to accommodate a handful of additional individuals when nighttime temperatures go well below freezing.
Sadly, a tiny nuisance has — until recently — created a significant problem at the CHC shelter. The discovery of bed bugs in a few areas of the facility in December forced shelter officials to temporarily suspend overflow services during a two-month eradication process that recently concluded.
“It immobilized us,” CHC Executive Director Heidi Lacey said during a recent interview.
Bed bugs are small, flat, wingless insects that feed on the blood of humans and animals — typically at night while their hosts sleep. They typically “hitchhike” on luggage, clothing, or used furniture. They don’t fly but move quickly on surfaces.
Charter House officials elected to take the safest, most comprehensive approach: To shut down areas of the building where the bugs had been found and commission a professional, long-term cleaning.
Through vigilance and quick action, shelter staff were able to isolate the portion of the facility where the bugs were originally identified and managed to keep the common areas and the entire second floor free of infestation through the treatment process.
At the same time, CHC and JGHS leaders — along with members of the Addison County Homeless Outreach Team — took steps to identify houseless folks and “figure out how to transition people living outside to safe shelter, given that we do not have an extreme weather shelter in Addison County,” JGHS Executive Director Susan Whittemore said.
Team members scoured the area connecting with homeless persons who had been sleeping in vehicles, sheds, tents and other makeshift housing, to make sure they had warm accommodations during potentially lethal cold snaps.
“Everyone was taken care of,” Lacey said.
Addison County saw an average temperature of 16.8 degrees in January, around 2 degrees lower than January 2025, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. Early February was colder still, with consistent sub-zero wind chill readings.
Whittemore and Lacey said the county’s family of nonprofit agencies have also worked nimbly together to serve those needing emergency placements. Lacey recalled a specific incident a month ago, triggered by a call from Porter Hospital, which was readying to discharge a homeless patient. And it was very cold outside, with no extreme-cold weather shelter available.
“It required us to do something on the fly,” Lacey said. “The silver lining here has been the partnerships (with other organizations).”
So CHC coordinated with the Tri-Valley Transit (busing), the United Way of Addison County (funding), Middlebury police and the Middlebury Inn, which that evening was able to offer four vacancies due to several cancellations. This ensured the patient — and others — had a safe place to go for the night if they had run out of other options.
“Our (JGHS) staff was instructed, if/when they received a call from someone in Addison County needing to come in from the outside, to call the Charter House hotline and were given the number. Heidi stayed on call during this time to help get them placed at the Inn and help with securing transportation, if needed,” Whittemore recounted.
The biggest barrier during the cold snap, according to Whittemore, was how to get homeless persons to either the Middlebury Inn or an out-of-county shelter.
“The Vermont Agency of Transportation (with support from the Agency of Human Services) was able to put into place an on-call program with staff drivers through the cold days/nights,” Whittemore said.
Middlebury police, the organization Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects, Turning Point Center, the Counseling Service of Addison County, Gather and the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society have also pitched in, Lacey noted, to the extent that the community partners were able to get seven people short-term shelter during January’s first cold snap.
Meanwhile, CHC leaders and contractors tackled the bed bug problem and established protocols to make sure the pests don’t return. All guests at the shelter must agree to protocols that require:
- All personal belongings to be cold treated for a minimum of 72 hours. All but essential items and clothing must be packed in totes, labeled and placed outside in a designated area.
- Items that can’t be cold-treated must be wiped down with rubbing alcohol and inspected by staff before they can be kept. Computers and TVs may remain if wiped; all other electronics must fit in a clear tote provided by the shelter
- Limits on personal belongings kept in cot spaces during cold treatment. Guests may keep only one clear bag for clean clothes, one black bag for dirty clothes and one small, clear tote for essential hard-surface items, such as bathroom items, small electronics, journal/pen, hard-surface keepsakes, pictures, and small, individually wrapped snacks.
- Regularly scheduled laundering of bed linens, with off-site personal laundry visits provided.
All clothing — clean or dirty — must remain bagged, and bags must be tied closed.
Guests are also expected to help clean the shelter. Each guest is assigned one house chore, to be completed twice daily. Guests are also required to sweep cot spaces daily, with mopping regularly assigned.
In other recent CHC news, the shelter recently won a $25,000 grant through the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, which will help the Charter House cover the expenses of supplies for 24/7 staffing.