Housing in the news

Today’s Burlington Free Press had two articles regarding homelessness in Vermont: 

HUD announced this week the renewals of Vermont's homeless assistance grants. A total of $3.6 million will be provided for 22 projects statewide during FY2012.

Reduced appropriations—based on the appropriations bill passed last month by Congress—will mean significant decreases in funding for many communities who rely on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME grants. Both programs have provided funds for a range of Vermont activities, including development and renovation of affordable housing.

Vermont's allocation of CDBG funds will fall by 8% during the FY 2012 and it's HOME funds will fall by 11%.  

Paul O'Toole's recent death in Burlington demonstrates the challenges faced by people who are homeless and who do not meet the sobriety and other restrictions of area shelters.  Read more in today's front page story in the Burlington Free Press. 

Jane Lindholm at Vermont Public Radio (VPR) will discuss Vermont's homeless today at noon and again at 7PM.  

A program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD/VASH) helps homeless veterans, such as Joseph Tomasello, find affordable housing. Today's New York Times describes how Mr. Tomasello's life took an unexpected downturn after his service in the air force, how he found himself homeless, and about his scramble for jobs and space in New York area homeless shelters.

The City of Burlington’s Community & Economic Development Office (CEDO) has won a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reduce lead-based paint hazards and address other health and safety hazards in the homes of low-income residents of Burlington and Winooski. CEDO will use $2,475,000 to make 135 eligible homes safe from lead-based paint and other health and safety hazards.

Senator Bernie Sanders joined the Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) and Housing Vermont yesterday to celebrate the completion of thirty apartments in a single building located off Susie Wilson Road in the Town of Essex. Cedar’s Edge Apartments offers a mix of 24 two-bedroom and six one-bedroom apartments.

In states like Vermont where so many homes are heated with oil, potential cuts to the federal program that provides assistance to low-income residents could not come at a worse time.   Half of all Vermont homes area heated with oil--far more than the seven percent national average. 

Senator Bernie Sanders was in West Rutland Friday to celebrate the conversion of two historic buildings-- Stanislaus School and a former convent that had been unoccupied for years--into affordable, energy efficient housing.