Shelter comes through again and again

By Eve Thorsen
Wednesday, December 25, 2002

The Christmas story doesn't say much about the Bethlehem innkeeper who gave shelter to Mary and Joseph, but if it did, it might have described someone like Joe Garbelli.

Garbelli is a man of few words, and the words he does have to spare are usually given to those in a similar plight to the biblical couple -- those seeking shelter because they are homeless.

Today, like most Christmas Days since 1989, Garbelli will be at the Burlington Emergency Shelter on North Street where he is director of operations. He is sharing his Christmas with people such as Walt Glover, a grandfather in a wheelchair who lost his shared home three weeks ago. Glover has family in New Hampshire, a place too distant for him to reach at present. So he turned to the North Street shelter.

"They've been fantastic. They don't turn away from people in wheelchairs," Glover said of Garbelli and the shelter's executive director, Bob Purvee. "They help me find people to go and see so I can relocate in a place of my own because I can cook for myself and do for myself."

The Burlington Emergency Shelter has been providing a bed and meal for the homeless since 1982 when it was established in a remodeled liquor store. "I like to say this place was converted to dispensing the right medicine," Purvee said. The shelter has room for 25 people and offers an evening meal along with a bed. It also has handicap-accessible facilities, meaning that people like Glover can use the facility fully without too much trouble.

The shelter differs from others in that it is run entirely without government funding. Instead, it is paid for by donations from a network of churches in the Chittenden County area. That religious aspect of the shelter is reflected in the staff. Both Garbelli and Purvee are clear that their reason for working at the shelter is divinely inspired, although their religious message is not forced on those who use the shelter.

"I stay here because I want to be obedient to God," Garbelli explained. "I feel like God wants me to be here."

Behind that is the plain fact that others need people like Garbelli and Purvee to be there. Not only has the number of people using the shelter remained constant, but it is also a shelter that takes people other facilities turn away, Purvee said. These include those in wheelchairs like Glover who need to have somewhere they can stay during the day, as well as those who have alienated others trying to help them.

"We had a man who had burned all his bridges, and he couldn't find anyone to take him in. He was difficult to deal with," Purvee said. "Amazingly enough, within in a short period of time, Joe was able to find him a place to stay. He was about 83, I think."

That number -- 83 years old -- is a shocking sign of the times, Garbelli said.

"It used to be uncommon to see people in their 50s. Now they're in their 60s, 70s and 80s," Garbelli said. "With managed care, we see people discharged from hospital after major surgery with nowhere to go. It's a disturbing and distressing trend and puts a lot of demand on resources here. The hospital is just as distressed about it as we are."

It is for people like these and others like Glover that the shelter exists. For most of them, it is not the place they want to be, but it is safe and warm and offers them help to get started on their own again.

"Christmas is not going to be the same without my grandchildren, but these are nice people to be with," Glover said. "We're treated so well it's like having your own family."
For questions or comments, send an e-mail to rholt@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com