Source: Burlington Free Press, May 6, by Joel Banner Baird “In the wake of nail-biting negotiations, hammers and nails transform a Burlington apartment into a group home for 16 adults with mental illness. The apartment building on St. Paul Street, owned by Champlain Housing Trust, will be reconfigured to replicate the family-like atmosphere of the adults’ former home on North Avenue, HowardCenter spokeswoman Gail Rosenberg said Thursday. The new residents will move in at the end of August, she said. Lakeview, which sits on land Burlington College recently bought from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, was not offered as a housing option to the residents, Rosenberg said. Another Catholic property in the New North End met with community resistance to HowardCenter clients, she said. Burlington-based nonprofit Champlain Housing Trust got wind of the standoff — which coincided with the trust’s plans to refurbish the St. Paul Street property. “We picked up the phone and said, ‘We think we have a building that might work for you guys,'” said Michael Monte, trust chief operating officer. The alternative, a scattered collection of smaller apartments, would have been more costly to secure, staff and permit, said HowardCenter’s Bob Bick, who directs mental health and substance abuse services. Separating the “family” of residents and staff would also have disrupted the group’s unique and productive dynamic, he said…” Full Story: New group home takes shape in Burlington PDF of Story: New group home takes shape in Burlington
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