As we welcome in 2021—I’m very pleased to share that we are nearly ready to move into a brand new building that will meet the needs of our community with dignity. We’re heartened by the generous support we’ve received from our supporters in the first and second phases of this project.
As we enter the third phase of the project—the renovation of 60 South Main Street (our existing Drop-In Center)—we continue to face uncertainty around the future of this old and venerable building.
In Phase One of this project, we moved our food shelf program to Canal Street—renaming it “Foodworks” in the process. Phase Two has been the construction of our new Day Shelter, Seasonal Overflow Shelter, and a consolidated location for administrative offices at 54 South Main. Phase Three is the renovation of 60 South Main Street. This building will provide critical programming space to allow us to meet our mission.
Together, the three phases of this project will:
Relocate Foodworks—increasing accessibility to serve more of our neighbors facing any level of food insecurity.
Create a permanent home for the Seasonal Overflow Shelter (SOS), which has been without a home of its own for the last 5 winters.
Create an adequate space for our community’s Day Shelter: Groundworks Drop-In Center.
Provide adequate space for Case Management services, Healthworks collaborations with the Brattleboro Retreat and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, and other supportive services.
Centralize and co-locate our administrative offices.
The new construction phase of Groundworks' capital project began on May 6, 2020 after the Governor's stay-at-home restrictions were relaxed to allow a few construction workers on site. As the delayed construction start has shifted the project's overall timeline, we are unsure when to expect to open the new building. We will post updates here as new information becomes available. The final phase of this project will be the renovation of 60 South Main Street—our existing Drop-In Center—for which we continue to raise funds.
Groundworks announced plans Monday morning outlining the future of the construction site adjacent to Groundworks Drop-In Center. In an effort that will cost $3.3 million—for which Groundworks has already secured over $2.2 million in committed funds—the nonprofit provider of services to the region’s citizens experiencing homelessness will build a roughly 5,000 square foot building to permanently house the Seasonal Overflow Shelter (SOS).
Formerly known as “the Food Shelf” and having operated from the Drop-In Center at 60 South Main Street since the 1980s, Groundworks’ program providing supplemental food to our neighbors in need served well over 3,700 people in over 1,400 households in 2018.
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UPDATES ON OUR PROGRESS
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MEDIA COVERAGE