Hamesbest Opens in Randolph, Vermont

Upper Valley Services and Downstreet Housing & Community Development celebrated the opening of Hamesbest in Randolph, Vermont on June 5, 2026. Spearheaded by Upper Valley Services and supported by Downstreet, Hamesbest will provide vital, attentive housing for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Downstreet's Executive Director, Angie Harbin, offered the following remarks on why projects like Hamesbest are critical for our future, stability, and our commitment as a community to a more equitable Vermont. 

Hamesbest
by Angie Harbin, June 5, 2026

In August of 2022, I had been at Downstreet for just over two months when I got a call from Deb Reed from Upper Valley Services (UVS), an organization I had never heard of. Deb and Ellen Riley—a parent of an adult son with an intellectual disability—had a housing vision. They had a building. They had a design. They had a clear and urgent need. They just needed some funding.

At that point, I was not only new to Downstreet, I was new to Vermont. I was still learning a new organization, a new role, and a new state. My calendar was a nightmare. And I had exactly zero experience developing housing specifically for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

But I love to hear from the people with passion for affordable housing—the people who show up and say, “We need this, and we are going to figure out how to make it happen.” And I am not sure there is a better description of Deb and Ellen.

So Deb pulled in Gloria Quinn, the Executive Director of UVS. I pulled in Nicola, Downstreet’s Director of Real Estate Development. And we met. And it became clear pretty quickly that the plan Deb and Ellen brought us was probably not going to work.

But by then, we were hooked.

There were people in desperate need of stable and dignified housing. Gloria brought deep experience with housing for the folks served by UVS. Deb and Ellen brought urgency and determination. Upper Valley Services was all in. Nicola thought we could maybe figure something out.

I gave my standard warning—affordable housing development is slow and discouraging, but let’s not give up.

And here we are this week—not quite four years later—celebrating not one but two project openings in partnership with Upper Valley Services. Today, of course, Hamesbest. On Wednesday, we were at Marsh House in Waterbury, where three apartment homes with space for shared on-site services are also ready for move-in. That model—an idea proposed by Gloria—integrates smoothly into Downstreet’s traditional multifamily housing development. It’s a replicable idea that Downstreet has already secured funding from Senator Sanders office to incorporate into another project with a different service provider that will break ground this summer.

That’s three more homes—in addition to Hamesbest and Marsh House—for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that would not be happening if it weren’t for this partnership with Upper Valley Services and the expertise Gloria has brought to our state.

This partnership has also changed how Downstreet approaches new affordable housing projects.

It is very easy, especially right now, to start with "no." There are so many easy outs: "we are over capacity," "the idea is too complicated," "the funding does not quite fit," "we don’t do that here."

And sometimes, "no" really is the answer. Not every barn in Vermont can become apartments.

But this work and this partnership has reminded us to start somewhere else. Instead of the knee jerk no, we try to start with "how."

"How might this work?"
"Who needs to be at the table?"
"What problem are we really trying to solve?"
"Is there a better model?"
"Is there a different partner?"
"Is this something we can do now, or something we need to keep working toward?"

Sometimes that still leads to "no." Sometimes it leads to “not yet.” Sometimes it leads to a connection with someone who can do it better.

And sometimes, it leads to Marsh House or Hamesbest.

I want to include a quick but very sincere nod to the state funders who helped make Hamesbest possible.

This is such a perfect project for the Vermont Housing Improvement Program—taking a vacant Vermont home and bringing it back to life, while also creating a new home on the same parcel of land. That is exactly the kind of practical, creative housing solution Vermont needs more of.

And the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB), Downstreet’s partner in “how.” VHCB starts with the community housing need, not with all the reasons a project might be too complicated to fund. They understand that the best and most necessary projects do not always come in neat packages. They step forward with the resources, creativity, and commitment it takes to turn Vermont’s housing needs into real homes.

Without that approach, we would not be here today. We would also not be here today without Nicola Anderson, Downstreet’s Director of Real Estate Development—and possibly the busiest woman in Central Vermont—who figured out the how for Hamesbest. And without Stephen Cohen, Downstreet’s Project Manager who worked with Brice from UVS to oversee the development of this project.

So thank you to Deb, Ellen, Gloria, Brice, Upper Valley Services, Nicola, Stephen, our funders, and everyone who helped move Hamesbest from an idea to homes.

Thank you.