Burlington’s overdose-prevention center appears unlikely to open this year, according to Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, who said that her initial timeline for the project was overly ambitious.
After lawmakers overrode a gubernatorial veto in June 2024 to authorize Burlington to open Vermont’s first-ever overdose-prevention center, Mulvaney-Stanak said she hoped to do so within a year.
But on Wednesday, Mulvaney-Stanak said she now hopes to “at least be proposing some sites” for the center by the end of 2025. She chalked up the change to “the bright eyes of a brand new mayor, and not understanding things take a lot of time.”
“I’m holding as a mayor here both the urgency of bringing this life-saving tool online, but making sure we’re taking the responsible amount of time to do things right,” she told reporters at a press conference.
The city at least has found a partner in that pursuit. Mulvaney-Stanak said the city recently selected Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform — a nonprofit that provides case management and drug treatment to hundreds of people in the Burlington area — to operate the center.
The nonprofit was the only local organization to apply. Executive Director Tom Dalton called the gig a “natural addition” for an organization that already works with many of the people most likely to use the center.
“We’re thrilled to have been chosen,” Dalton said.
The nonprofit is now working with city staff to develop a formal proposal for the city council’s consideration in the coming weeks. If approved, the proposal would then head to the Vermont Department of Health, which will also need to sign off before it frees up about $1 million in state funding for the center.
The funding would help Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform hire additional staff and eventually relocate its offices, Dalton said. The nonprofit’s current staff of three works out of a small office on Bank Street.
The city will also be conducting a “neighborhood assessment” and community engagement process to help decide where the new center will be sited.
Mulvaney-Stanak, who has stressed that the center must be centrally-located and easily accessible, said her office is working to determine whether any zoning amendments will be necessary.
Selecting a site and securing the buy-in of neighbors won’t by the only challenge. Burlington will also need to navigate a potentially antagonistic Justice Department, led by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has criticized overdose-prevention centers in the past.
There is a good chance that President Donald Trump’s yet-to-be-announced pick to replace U.S. Attorney Nikolas Kerest could seek to disrupt Burlington’s plans, perhaps by threatening to prosecute the center’s operators for violating federal laws.
The city isn’t waiting around to find out. “We are proceeding because this is what the State of Vermont has enabled us to do,” Mulvaney-Stanak said.