The city of Burlington has rejected a plan by the owners of a hostel to use their Main Street facility as a shelter for homeless families during the winter.

The Bellows Falls Warming Shelter has a new location where local people who are homeless can sleep during the cold months.

Spectrum Youth and Family Services is opening a new eight-unit residence in Burlington this week near its Pearl Street drop-in center and shelter. The agency has seen an increase in the young-adult homeless population since the economic downturn in 2008.

Low-income advocates in Rockingham and its village of Bellows Falls are working overtime this winter to find safe lodging for people who are homeless. The town's overnight warming shelter is closed for lack of a zoning permit, and its supporters have been scrambling for alternatives.

Cold weather and the poor economy have swelled the ranks of people needing emergency housing, and homeless shelters are filled to capacity this winter. But there is also some good news. Federal stimulus money is helping some of the homeless find housing.