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Spectrum’s Nightly Shelter in Burlington VT Opens Year-Round Thanks to Generous Gifts From KeyBank Foundation, the Pomerleau Family Foundation and Other Donors

Spectrum’s Nightly Shelter in Burlington VT Opens Year-Round Thanks to Generous Gifts From KeyBank Foundation, the Pomerleau Family Foundation and Other Donors

Published 06-27-24

Submitted by KeyBank

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Pictured at a recent check presentation are (from left) KeyBank Market Retail Leader Nicholas Stevens, Market President Tony DiSotto, Area Retail Leader Gamal Alsalahi, Corporate Responsibility Officer Brigitte Ritchie, and Spectrum Executive Director Mark Redmond. 

Through generous funding from KeyBank Foundation, the Pomerleau Family Foundation, the University of Vermont Medical Center, and many individual donors who contributed to a special matching fund, Spectrum Youth and Family Services of Burlington, VT has been able to make its seasonal warming shelter a year-round resource for homeless youth. On May 14th, Spectrum officially expanded the shelter operations from seasonal to year-round programming to fill a critical gap in the local continuum of care, offering a youth-friendly overnight option when other shelter beds are full.

“We are pleased to join forces with the Pomerleau Family Foundation and other donors to help expand the vital resources that Spectrum provides,” said KeyBank Market President, Tony DiSotto. “KeyBank is a long-time supporter of Spectrum and their mission to improve the lives of disadvantaged youth and young adults in our community.” KeyBank Foundation has provided a three-year $225,000 grant to support the Nightly Shelter.

Spectrum Youth and Family Services opened a winter warming shelter in November of 2017 to provide more beds for youth facing homelessness in the harshest months. The warming shelter was a seasonal shelter, open from November through March 31.

Over the past two years, however, Spectrum’s Basic Needs Director, Christina Brown says she has been handing out more sleeping bags and tents than ever before year-round – in fact, she can’t keep them in stock. To meet the growing need for safe youth shelter in Burlington, Spectrum’s warming shelter was re-named the Nightly Shelter and is now open year-round.

The Nightly Shelter is a low-barrier, 10-bed emergency shelter that is open every day from 5pm to 9am. Youth can then access the Burlington Drop-In Center during the day for meals, laundry, clothing, and case management.

Many of the youth who access the Nightly Shelter are new to Spectrum, and each year several youths move from the Nightly Shelter into the Landing or Pearl Street Residence, significantly increasing their odds of moving on to permanent housing.

Spectrum Youth & Family Services helps teens and young adults ages 14-24 meet their basic needs, access mental health counseling and substance use disorder, and get help with employment, education, and living independently to thrive as young adults. To learn more, visit www.spectrumvt.org.

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KeyCorp's roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $187 billion at June 30, 2024.

Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,200 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank Member FDIC.

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