The Salvation Army Vermont is part of the Northern New England Division, which covers Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont from divisional headquarters at 297 Cumberland Avenue in Portland, Maine. The division operates 20 Corps Community Centers across the three states. Vermont's three primary corps are in Burlington, Rutland, and the Barre-Montpelier area. The state's most significant recent disaster events were the July 2023 floods (which dumped up to 9.20 inches of rain in Calais, killed two people, and caused more than $600 million in damages) and the July 2024 floods that hit many of the same communities. The Salvation Army participated in the multi-organization VOAD response alongside the American Red Cross, Southern Baptists, Team Rubicon, and others; recovery work continues into 2026.
The year-round work in Vermont looks much like Salvation Army operations everywhere: emergency rent and utility assistance, food pantries, overnight shelter at the Burlington corps, after-school programs, holiday assistance, and disaster response. What sets Vermont apart from most states is the seasonal pressure on heating assistance and the recent disaster history. Vermont winters are severe; heating costs spike for five to six months a year; and many low-income households fall outside LIHEAP eligibility but cannot cover oil, propane, electric, or wood heating costs on their own. The Salvation Army's heating assistance programs in Vermont are active throughout the cold months and are often the last resort for families who have exhausted other options.
Vermont has also been through two major flood events in two consecutive summers (July 2023 and July 2024), which has created multi-year recovery work that the Salvation Army continues to participate in through Vermont VOAD and county-level Long-Term Recovery Groups. The state's disaster fatigue has been notable: families who lost their homes in 2023 were still rebuilding when the 2024 floods hit, and the Salvation Army has been one of the organizations providing direct assistance and case management for affected households.
Burlington Corps Community Center is the largest Salvation Army operation in Vermont. Burlington serves Chittenden County and surrounding northwestern Vermont communities. The Burlington corps runs a food pantry, emergency rent and utility assistance, after-school programming, and emergency shelter beds. Burlington's modest but persistent homeless population (concentrated downtown around Church Street and the Old North End) keeps the corps' emergency assistance active year-round.
Rutland Corps serves Rutland County, where some of Vermont's highest poverty rates concentrate. Rutland County's economic situation has been challenging for years; the corps handles a meaningful share of the county's emergency food and utility assistance demand. The Salvation Army Rutland Corps also provides Christmas assistance for hundreds of Rutland-area families each year through the Red Kettle Campaign.
The Barre-Montpelier area corps serves the state capital region. Barre and Montpelier are sister cities separated by about 10 miles with different but overlapping populations. The corps serves both communities and surrounding Washington County. The July 2023 floods devastated downtown Montpelier and central Barre; the corps facility itself was affected, and the corps coordinated significant flood recovery work in collaboration with HOPE (Washington County's Long-Term Recovery Group), Capstone Community Action, and other local partners.
Smaller service units and partner programs cover other Vermont communities. Brattleboro, St. Johnsbury, Newport, St. Albans, and Bennington are covered through Service Extension or partnerships with local nonprofits rather than full corps. The Salvation Army's reach into the Northeast Kingdom (the three northeasternmost counties) is limited; Catholic Charities, the Vermont Foodbank, and local organizations cover more of that ground.
The July 2023 Northeastern United States floods caused historic, devastating floods across Vermont, primarily on July 9 and 10. The Weather Prediction Center issued its first-ever high risk for excessive rainfall for areas in the National Weather Service Burlington coverage zone, and Governor Phil Scott declared a state of emergency before the storms even arrived. Maximum rainfall reached 9.20 inches in Calais. Much of the state received more than 4 inches of rainfall in a short period.
Two fatalities were confirmed. More than 34 houses were destroyed. Damages exceeded $600 million. The most impacted areas included Montpelier (the state capital), the city of Barre, and the towns of Londonderry, Ludlow, and many others. Downtown Montpelier was effectively underwater for several days; the city's bookstores, restaurants, and small businesses suffered tens of millions in collective damages. Roads, bridges, and culverts across the state were destroyed.
The Salvation Army responded as part of the Vermont Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VT VOAD) coalition alongside the American Red Cross, Southern Baptists, Team Rubicon, Faith in Action, ReSource, Latter Day Saints Charities, Evangelical Lutheran Church, United Church of Christ, World Renew, American Baptists, and others. Salvation Army teams provided feeding and emergency assistance during the response phase and remained involved in long-term recovery work through Lamoille County's LeARN, Washington County's HOPE, and other county-level recovery groups.
Vermont experienced additional severe flooding in July 2024, affecting many of the same communities that were hit in July 2023. The State of Vermont Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program (BEGAP) was activated for businesses and nonprofits that suffered physical damages from flooding events. BEGAP was structured to cover both 2023 and 2024 flood damages because so many businesses were still recovering from 2023 when 2024 hit them again.
The Salvation Army Northern New England Division continued disaster feeding operations during the 2024 flood response. Long-term recovery groups (LeARN in Lamoille County, HOPE in Washington County, and others) remain active in 2026 working through unmet needs from both years. Sixteen months after the 2024 floods, local recovery groups reported an increase in requests for help for both 2023 and 2024 damages. Vermonters continued to report damages to 211, grapple with costs, navigate multiple recovery processes, and find contractors. Some Vermonters only realized they should seek help years after the events.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief left a construction coordinator on the ground in the Northeast Kingdom to continue indoor repairs through winter 2024-2025. Lowe's and United Parcel Service awarded Vermont volunteers a combined $10,000 for building materials and supplies for homes damaged in 2023 events. Multiple national and local organizations have continued providing teams and resources into 2026.
Vermont winters create predictable seasonal pressure on heating assistance. Federal LIHEAP served 23,293 Vermont households for heating in FY 2024, with another 2,676 receiving Winter Crisis assistance and 177 households getting Weatherization help. The Vermont WARMTH Support Program (Working to Aid Residents through Mutual Tenderness and Helpfulness) is a state-specific fuel assistance program that uses donations from concerned Vermonters to help low-income families pay their energy costs. All WARMTH contributions go directly to fuel suppliers; administrative costs are funded by participating fuel dealers and utilities.
Salvation Army Vermont corps refer eligible families to WARMTH alongside federal LIHEAP and Vermont's General Assistance program (which provides emergency help for fuel, utilities, and basic needs to people unable to work or with employment barriers). For families who do not qualify for any of these programs but still cannot cover heating bills, Salvation Army corps may provide direct cash assistance from Red Kettle and donor funds. The Vermont Delegation announced more than $20 million in LIHEAP funds for FY 2023-2024, partly to help Vermonters rebuilding after the 2023 floods.
Cash gifts at the Northern New England Division site or the national salvationarmyusa.org can be designated to a specific Vermont corps. The Salvation Army national overhead ratio runs at roughly 14 percent (82 cents per dollar to program services, 11 cents to fundraising, 7 cents to management).
Red Kettle dollars from late November through Christmas Eve stay in the corps where the kettle was placed. Kettles in Burlington stay in Burlington. Kettles in Rutland stay in Rutland. The Vermont share of the Northern New England Division's $1.5 million Red Kettle goal is typically around 20 percent of the total because Vermont has the smallest population of the three NNE states.
Furniture, clothing, working appliances, and household goods go to Family Stores statewide. Free pickup is available for larger items at satruck.org or by calling the store. Sale revenue funds the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center program. Vermont's nearest ARC is in Boston.
Vehicle donations through Cars Helping Families. The vehicle is sold at auction; net proceeds fund local programs. Stock, planned giving, and donor-advised fund gifts are processed through the Northern New England Division development office in Portland, Maine.
Red Kettle bell ringing from late November through Christmas Eve is the largest single volunteer role. Sign up at registertoring.com, pick a host store and shift, show up. Vermont needs hundreds of two-hour slots filled each Christmas season, and many slots go unfilled in smaller communities.
Disaster volunteer roles became unusually important after the 2023 and 2024 floods. Roles include canteen volunteering (mobile food unit work), warehouse work, distribution support, emotional and spiritual care provided by trained chaplains and ESC volunteers, and ongoing recovery support coordinated through county-level Long-Term Recovery Groups. Vermont VOAD coordinates flood recovery volunteer needs across multiple organizations.
Year-round opportunities at corps in Burlington, Rutland, and Barre-Montpelier include Family Store sorting, food pantry packing, and holiday toy distribution. For corporate teams of 10 to 50 people, the Northern New England Division development office in Portland can coordinate group volunteer days. Vermont-based companies (Ben and Jerry's, Cabot Creamery, NRG Systems, others) have run repeat corporate volunteer programs with the Salvation Army.
The Northern New England Division is part of the Salvation Army Eastern Territory, which files a single Form 990 under EIN 13-5562351. Vermont-specific financial reporting is consolidated at the divisional level with Maine and New Hampshire. The Salvation Army National Corporation reported roughly $5.8 billion in annual revenue across all US operations.
National overhead ratios run consistently at roughly 14 percent. Program services receive 82 cents per dollar; fundraising costs 11 cents; management and general 7 cents. Charity Navigator gives the Salvation Army four stars; CharityWatch rates it favorably. Restricted Vermont flood relief funds (2023, 2024) have separate restricted-fund accounting available on request from the Portland headquarters.
For pure food access dollars, the Vermont Foodbank in Barre is the state's sole food bank and a Feeding America affiliate. It covers all 14 counties and converts donated dollars at roughly 1:7 through bulk purchasing power. For raw food access, a Vermont Foodbank donation reaches more people than a cash donation to a Salvation Army Vermont food pantry would.
For shelter, COTS (Committee on Temporary Shelter) in Burlington runs the largest Burlington-area shelter system; Good Samaritan Haven serves central Vermont (Barre-Montpelier area); ANEW Place runs additional Burlington shelter. The Salvation Army's shelter footprint in Vermont is small relative to these organizations.
The Salvation Army's specific advantages in Vermont: heating assistance programs that fill the gap for families outside LIHEAP and WARMTH eligibility, geographic reach through corps in Burlington, Rutland, and the state capital region, breadth of services in a single corps (rent, utilities, food, holiday assistance), and disaster recovery participation that has been ongoing through both flood events.
Practical framing: for maximum food-per-dollar in Vermont, the Vermont Foodbank wins on math. For shelter, COTS and Good Samaritan Haven and ANEW Place are the larger shelter organizations. For heating assistance gap-filling, multi-year flood recovery participation, and integrated Christmas assistance in the smaller Vermont communities, the Salvation Army Vermont is one of the few organizations operating across the state.
Last updated May 2026. Northern New England Division headquarters address (297 Cumberland Ave., Portland ME 04101) from the Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory Northern New England directory. July 2023 Vermont flood details (peak rainfall 9.20 inches in Calais, two fatalities, more than 34 houses destroyed, damages exceeding 600 million dollars, hardest-hit areas Montpelier-Barre-Londonderry-Ludlow, Governor Phil Scott state of emergency declaration, NWS Burlington first-ever high risk for excessive rainfall) from the Wikipedia article on the July 2023 Northeastern United States floods in Vermont. VOAD coalition partners (American Red Cross, Southern Baptists, Team Rubicon, Faith in Action, ReSource, Latter Day Saints Charities, Evangelical Lutheran Church, United Church of Christ, World Renew, American Baptists) from the December 12, 2024 News and Citizen opinion column on Vermont flood recovery. Long-Term Recovery Groups (LeARN in Lamoille County, HOPE in Washington County) and Lowes and UPS $10,000 award from the same article. July 2024 Vermont flood follow-up and BEGAP program activation from vermont.gov/flood. LIHEAP figures for Vermont FY 2024 (heating 23,293 households, winter crisis 2,676, weatherization 177) from the LIHEAP Clearinghouse Vermont profile. WARMTH Support Program description from the same source. Vermont Delegation $20 million LIHEAP announcement (October 26, 2023) from Senator Peter Welch press release. Vermont Burlington Corps reference from easternusa.salvationarmy.org/northern-new-england/greater-burlington/. Eastern Territory EIN 13-5562351 from CharityWatch and IRS Exempt Organization Master File. National revenue figure (~5.8 billion dollars) from Salvation Army National Corporation 2023 published annual report. Overhead ratio figures from Salvation Army National annual report and Charity Navigator. We are not affiliated with the Salvation Army and receive no compensation for this listing. Errors: [email protected]