Lack of affordable housing is the community challenge that survey respondents are most concerned about, according to the recently released 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment. Among survey respondents, 58.3 percent rated lack of affordable housing as the top concern, followed by 52.5 percent for drug and alcohol abuse.
Development
Collins lends a voice in Essex Junction debate about pace of development
“I want more...” explains VHFA’s Director of Policy and Administration Maura Collins in a recent letter to the editor of the Essex Reporter. Collins is a long-time resident of Essex Junction who felt it was time to share her ideas about future expansion of the Junction’s housing stock and population.
“We see beauty in the new faces, appreciate the increasing diversity of housing types and residents, and want to champion thoughtful growth…. We want more...” writes Collins.
Metamorphosis begins for once-decaying mobile home park near Vergennes
After sitting vacant for six years, the Gevries mobile home park in Addison County has started redevelopment. VHFA provided housing tax credits that will cover an estimated 60 percent of the project’s costs and ensure that the new 14-home community will be affordable for low-income renters of all ages. By installing VERMOD high-performance duplex homes, developers Cathedral Square Corporation and Addison County Community Trust anticipate that the neighborhood will achieve net-zero annual energy costs, another critical component of its long-term affordability.
Watch Local22’s story last week about the project.
Ground breaking at Elm Place in Milton celebrated
Executive Director Sarah Carpenter joined partners from Cathedral Square and other agencies to launch construction of Elm Place, a 30-unit building for seniors in Milton. Elm Place will be Vermont’s first multi-family building certified to Passive House standards. Better windows and doors, added insulation and improved air sealing are expected to enable the building to use roughly 65 percent less energy.
The project has an anticipated opening date of March 2017. Residents will benefit from Support and Services at Home (SASH) care coordination which supports aging in place through an on-site SASH coordinator and part-time wellness nurse. Two apartments are fully ADA accessible and all apartments are adaptable.
New tools help real estate professionals appraise energy-efficient, high performance homes
The Vermont Green Home Alliance has completed the guide Appraised Value and Energy Efficiency: Getting It Right for building design professionals, builders, home performance contractors, appraisers, lenders, and real estate agents. This guide is intended to help professionals prepare for the increasing level of high performance new home construction and existing home energy efficiency improvement happening in Vermont.
VHFA awards millions in tax credits for affordable housing: Credits create 31 permanent homes for people who are homeless in four communities
BURLINGTON, VT -- On Monday, April 18, the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) Board of Commissioners committed federal low-income housing tax credits and state affordable housing tax credits that will provide almost $25 million in upfront equity to construct and renovate housing for low-income Vermonters and will increase permanent supportive housing for people who were formerly homeless. The $2.578 million in 10 year federal credits and $400,000 in five year state credits support 356 rental homes in 11 communities across the state.
Our brains process information differently. When making important life decisions, we weigh a few factors deliberately (slowly). But for hundreds of other factors, we must rely on intuitive judgment — and we weigh these unconsciously (quickly). Even if in our slow thinking we work to avoid discrimination, it can easily creep into our fast thinking.
Accessible housing can be the norm, not the exception
The toolbox for enabling seniors who want to grow older in their current homes is becoming increasingly effective, according to experts consulted in a recent How Housing Matters article.
A quarter of Vermont households are headed by someone who is 65 or older. The vast majority of these seniors will not move as their physical mobility becomes more limited with age. However, only one in three older Americans lives in a homes with safety features, such as grab bars. Public financial support can put home modifications in reach of lower income seniors.
Canal Street Veterans Housing celebrates 5 years of success
Five years after opening its doors to homeless veterans, Canal Street Veterans Housing is celebrating its success in moving residents to permanent housing and employment. Eighty-seven percent of all residents moved into permanent housing after leaving Canal Street and all of those who were able to work were employed.
Canal Street is a two-year transitional housing program for formerly homeless veterans. It is the only VA housing provider in Vermont that allows families of veterans to join them in their program. In 2015, the residents of Canal Street's 28 units included 8 children and two spouses.
Federal HOME program saved through coalition-building and leadership
The recent federal budget agreement included the survival of a program that has become a vital funding source for affordable rental housing in Vermont--the HOME Investment Partnership Program. When proposals arose earlier last year to deeply cut the program, the National Association of Housing Finance Agencies (NCSHA) HOME Coalition tirelessly and effectively gathered evidence of the program’s impact, documented its widespread support and educated federal policy makers.