Central Vermonters Help Their Homeless Neighbors With Gifts of More Than 500 Backpacks
Church members Eric Brigham (left, in red), Dennis Roberts (right), and several teens helped pack more than 500 backpacks for their homeless neighbors.
Vermont Officials Report a 312% Increase in Homelessness
Central Vermont is known for its panoramic mountain views and quaint villages, but in recent years the region has become the center of a growing population of homeless individuals and families. Officials and caregivers in the cities of Barre and Montpelier, and the Town of Berlin that links the two, have counted some 600 adults and children who, for reasons that include mental health struggles, poverty, and opioid addiction, lack affordable housing.
The 100 members of Faith Community Church have taken notice and taken action to alleviate some of the practical difficulties that unsheltered people face each day. Since 2019, they have filled and donated more than 500 backpacks for their homeless neighbors, according to John and Becky Pellegrini, who recently discussed the church’s service ministry.
John and Becky Pellegrini lead Faith Community Church’s ongoing backpack ministry for homeless adults and children.
On March 22, church members filled another fifty backpacks. “We put toiletries in them: nail clippers, tooth brushes, toothpaste, combs, candy, wipes, shampoo, and deodorant, as well as snacks, Bibles [donated by the Gideons], reading material, hats, and mittens,” said John Pellegrini, an elder.
“We even ended up one year with a donation of lightweight sleeping bags from Toys for Tots,” he added. For the homeless children, “We included crayons, coloring books, and writing paper.”
Church members donated the majority of the items and spent considerable time packing the backpacks. They received a $750 grant from the Baptist Foundation of New England (BFNE). Terry Dorsett, executive director of the Baptist Churches of New England (BCNE) and its foundation, arranged for the grant, for which the Pellegrinis expressed their appreciation.
Dorsett and his late wife, Kay, planted Faith Community Church in 2004 when he was leading the Green Mountain Baptist Association. The Pellegrinis were charter members of the church.
“We have always received donations for backpacks. We started this program by just going to lawn sales and picking up decent backpacks that were in free piles or [on sale] for a couple of dollars,” Pellegrini said. The BFNE grant paid for the purchase of another seventy-five backpacks and Toys for Tots also gave 200 backpacks.
Backpack Gifts for Their Poorest Neighbors
“There’s a large homeless population in Central Vermont right now. Those people need Jesus and they need to know that somebody cares enough about them to buy a toothbrush and a washcloth for them,” said Becky Pellegrini, a deaconess.
Church members filled more than 500 backpacks since 2019 for those living outdoors year-round.
“A church member named Linda Roberts heard that there were children in the homeless community and that broke her heart. So, she herself did the children’s backpacks because she can’t bear to know that children don’t have a place to live,” Becky Pellegrini added. Linda Roberts was joined by her husband, Dennis and others.
The backpack ministry is a team effort, according to the Pellegrinis. The men’s and the teen’s Bible study groups filled fifty backpacks each.
The outreach ministry for their poorest neighbors is inspired in part by the words the apostle John in his first pastoral letter (1 John 3:17-18, NIV): “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
The church members expressed their “love of God” “with actions” that gave a measure of comfort to their neighbors “in need” who lack “material possessions.”
Chad Bassette, a sergeant in the Berlin Police Department, distributed the backpacks for the church because the homeless encampments located near Route 302 can be a dangerous places to visit. “There are a lot of mental health issues and a lot of drug use there, so we fill the backpacks and get them to him, and he distributes them. There’s such a need for them that they’re usually distributed on the same day,” noted Pellegrini.
Thanks to Bassette’s suggestion, Berlin’s police, fire, and ambulance departments collectively gave over $400 for backpacks last year.
The Baptist Foundation of New England gave Faith Community Church $750 for their backpack ministry.
The grant came from the
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“I often wondered what happened to those Bibles, whether they were thrown away. We don’t know when somebody will pick up a Bible out of a pack and read it,” Pellegrini stated. Bassette told the Pellegrinis about a woman who died at a homeless encampment, Among her possessions were two Bibles that likely were donated by Faith Community Church.
The homeless people of Central Vermont “need Jesus and our church doors are open for the homeless population. They’re welcome in our church. God loves these people too, and we just want to get the Word out to them,” Pellegrini concluded.
The backpack ministry, he acknowledged, is just a temporary measure of comfort, especially for adults and children, as well as the elderly, who are forced by an array of circumstances to live outdoors in the winter months. Central Vermont, like many New England regions, has a major lack of sustainable or affordable housing.
Pastor Trey Cates and his wife Robin sorted donated goods at Faith Community Church before the backpacks were filled.
“We need more housing in Vermont, obviously. There’s a shortage of apartments. There’s a shortage of housing. Real estate has gone through the ceiling,” he observed.
Trey Cates, Faith Community Church’s pastor, wrote in his April 3 online newsletter that “Barre, where our church is located, has a homeless crisis. The state, to this point, has allowed those without permanent residences to stay in local hotels for short periods of time, but this effort has not reversed the issue. Many individuals and families (children included) are in encampments with very little in the way of resources.”
He described the church’s ministry of backpack distribution and added, “We know there is more we can do, so please pray along with us as to how we can take this effort and leverage it for a gospel witness.”
The Barre church served disaster relief teams when the Central Vermont region was hit hard by floods.
Dan Molind, founder and senior pastor of Enough Ministries, serves meals to homeless and poor people from the church’s Garden of Feeden ministry center near downtown Barre. A former member of Faith Community Church, the ministry affiliates with the BCNE.
Affordable Housing and Addiction Crises
The state’s affordable housing and opioid addiction crises resulted in nearly 100 people being forced to live year-round in outdoor encampments. At last count on November 1, 2024, state officials “documented a staggering 312% increase in Vermont homelessness from 2020 to 2024,” according to The Bridge, an independent online news source for Central Vermont.
The Good Samaritan Haven, a shelter in Barre, participated in an annual national Point-In-Time (PIT) Count of people experiencing homelessness. The 2024 count, The Bridge article reported, “comes as central Vermont continues to grapple with an unprecedented homelessness crisis.” The PIT Count is a snapshot of homelessness on a single January night, conducted by volunteers.
Julie Bond, executive director of the shelter, is seeking donations to fund “motel stays for those at the highest risk of harm if forced outside into a tent: pregnant individuals, families with children, insulin-dependent people, those relying on life-sustaining devices requiring electricity, elderly adults, and individuals with severe physical or mental health conditions,” according to their online statement.
In January 2024, there were 771,480 people experiencing homelessness in the United States—or about 23 of every 10,000 people—according to a comprehensive report by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, “The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress.”
In related news, HUD recognized April as Fair Housing Month, to commemorate the Fair Housing Act of 1968, prohibit discrimination, and promote fair housing practice. The 2025 theme is “Faith, Freedom, and Fair Housing.”