About the Walk
Founded in 1988, the COTS Walk is one of our oldest and most important peer-to-peer fundraisers. Every year walkers of all ages from businesses, schools, religious organizations, and neighborhoods come together from all over the region to participate. The Walk begins and ends in Battery Park with music from Jenni & the Jazz Junketeers, as well as Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and fun activities.

This family-friendly event guides Walkers along a 3.6-mile route through downtown Burlington visiting some of the shelters and facilities that COTS operates. At this event, COTS seeks to illustrate the path a person experiencing homelessness might take when utilizing COTS services to educate our community about homelessness in our region. Bring your friends, family, coworkers, dogs, and strollers…All are welcome!

This year the COTS Walk theme is Every Story Deserves a Home. Every person who walks through the doors of COTS’s shelters, housing, and service locations has a unique life story. At COTS, we believe that every story matters, and every person has the power to change the ending. At this year’s COTS Walk, we hope you will join us in honoring every story and recognizing that homelessness is a chapter in too many stories in our community.

When: First Sunday in May; Sunday May 3rd, 2026.
Where: Battery Park
Registration: begins at 1pm (meet at 1:30pm on the south side of the battery pavillion)
Walk time: begins at 2pm

Donate or Join the OZ Team here

Who Walks?
Walkers of all ages, from businesses, schools, social and religious organizations, and neighborhoods come together from all over the region to participate in the annual COTS Walk.

Why Walk?
To raise public awareness about homelessness in our community and to raise money. To support COTS shelters and services for Vermonters who are homeless or are at risk of losing their homes.