COTS Adds Daily On-Site Recovery Support

Burlington’s main adult shelter has started offering daily on-site recovery support, bringing meetings and one-on-one help directly into the building for residents. (patch.com) The Committee on Temporary Shelter, or COTS, now runs that support at its Waystation shelter at 58 Pearl Street, the 56-bed downtown site it opened after a 2025 renovation. COTS said the redesigned building was built to host partner agencies on site, and its shelter page now lists “connection to recovery coaching” among Daystation services. (cotsonline.org 1) (cotsonline.org 2) The recovery work is being done with the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County, a Burlington peer-recovery organization that operates seven days a week and offers recovery coaching and meetings. Burlington’s city resource page describes Turning Point as a sober drop-in space with peer support, 12-step meetings, and educational workshops. (turningpointcentervt.org) (burlingtonvt.gov) COTS added the support as Burlington’s shelter system has been trying to create more options between low-barrier shelter and formal treatment. On March 9, 2026, the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and Howard Center opened the 10-to-12-bed Bridges Recovery Shelter downtown for unhoused people seeking recovery from addiction. (vermontpublic.org) That gap is specific: low-barrier shelters get people indoors without requiring sobriety, but providers say those settings can make early recovery harder to maintain. Vermont Public reported that Bridges was designed to take referrals from other shelters and add clinicians, group meetings, and peer support for residents trying to stay sober. (vermontpublic.org) COTS has been moving in this direction since it opened the larger Waystation. Coverage of the November 2025 opening said COTS was working with the University of Vermont Medical Center and the Turning Point Center to bring medical and recovery specialists into the shelter daily. (msn.com) (mynbc5.com) The shelter itself is a bigger piece of Burlington’s response to homelessness. COTS says its emergency shelters are open 365 days a year, and the Daystation typically serves more than 50 people a day while connecting guests to housing navigators and outside providers. (cotsonline.org) The practical change is that recovery support no longer depends on a resident making it across town to find it. At the Waystation, the meeting, the coach, and the bed are now in the same place. (patch.com)