LEBANON — Concerned about the rising rate of homelessness in the Upper Valley, city administrators partnered with the Upper Valley Haven this year to open an emergency winter shelter in Lebanon for people without housing.

On Monday, Jan. 8, the city will open a seasonal overnight shelter for up to 15 people at 160 Mechanic St. The facility will be open daily from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. through mid-April to ensure that people have a warm place to sleep during the cold weather months.

Human Resources Director Lynne Goodwin credited a collective effort by city administrators, the City Council, community partners and city residents who advocated for a shelter in Lebanon.

“While the region continues to address the need for affordable housing, which is the only way to end homelessness, additional shelter beds this winter will literally provide life-saving shelter during the coldest months of the year,” Goodwin said in a written statement. ‘The Lebanon Winter Shelter will not meet the demand for shelter for the entire region, but it is an important piece of a regional effort to address homelessness.”

The shelter is located in a renovated commercial building at the intersection of Mechanic Street and Slayton Hill Road that the city purchased in August for $400,000. The city eventually intends to raze the building to make way for the construction of a roundabout at the intersection. That project is scheduled to start in 2029.

The City Council approved a $210,000 appropriation in next year’s city budget to fund the shelter’s operation. The city has contracted the Haven, a community services nonprofit, to run the shelter.

So far, the city has received nearly $100,000 in private donations to assist the shelter, including $50,000 from Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, $25,000 from Dartmouth Health and $20,000 from Mascoma Bank.

Angela Zhang, program services director at Listen Community Services, said in a phone interview that 21 unhoused people in the Upper Valley died in 2023.

“Listen wholeheartedly supports the opening of the emergency shelter,” Zhang said. “It’s such an important life-saving measure for so many people. It’s about making sure that people survive so that we can get them into permanent housing.”