Partner organizations

The number of people who stayed in Vermont's emergency shelters last year and the average length of their stays were at their highest point in a decade. According to a recent report from Vermont's Department for Children and Families (DCF), publicly-supported emergency shelters in the state served 4,303 people in July 2014 through June 2015, up from 3,934 in the prior year.

On average, people stayed in Vermont's shelters 36.8 days. This is higher than in any prior year since 2002--the earliest year for which comparable data is available. 

The American Institute of Architects, in conjunction with HUD, is now accepting entries for the 2016 Housing and Community Design Awards Program.  Owners of structures and architects licensed in the United States are invited to submit project designs of any size, budget, or style.  Only projects completed after January, 1, 2011 will be considered for the awards. All entries must be submitted electronically before November 20, 2015 at 5:00 pm EST.

The Citizens' Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) has issued a request for proposals to rural communities interested in applying for funding to host a community design workshop in 2016 or 2017.

CIRD offers annual competitive funding to six small towns or rural communities to host a two-and-ahalf day community development and design workshop. With assistance from a wide range of design, planning, and creative place making professionals, the workshops are intended to bring together local leaders from non-profits, community organizations, and government agencies to develop actionable solutions to the communities’ pressing development challenges.

There is no better way to learn about Burlington's land-mark affordable housing preservation efforts of the early 1980s than to take a walk around VHFA's offices. More than 200 apartments in the King Street area were renovated and preserved as affordable housing through partnerships between VHFA, HUD, the City of Burlington and local housing providers.

VHFA's Multifamily Management Director Sam Falzone realized he could show staff first-hand the benefits of this initiative by leading small-group lunch time tours of the neighborhood. All but six of the apartments renovated through this initiative 33 years ago remain critical components of Burlington's affordable rental housing stock today.

Steve Davis, owner of the Wilder-based VerMod company is becoming recognized not just for his company's high quality modular homes but for the employment opportunities he has created for residents of the Hartford Dismas House. Dismas provides group-setting affordable housing to people recently released from prison.  Read more in Sunday's Valley News.

The federal HOME program provides grants to state and local governments to produce affordable housing for low-income families. HOME funds are a vital and unique source of financing for roughly 25 percent of all affordable rental housing recently developed in Vermont. These projects would likely not have been possible without HOME assistance. 

“What proportion of renters in Chittenden County are cost burdened?” “How much in closing costs and taxes do Vermonters pay on average when they buy a home?”

There's still time to register for the 2015 Green Real Estate Symposium on October 29, 2015, at the Lake Morey Resort.

The symposium features powerhouse speakers and leading instructors in the real estate industry.

Read more or download the conference flyer.

Governor Shumlin joined Woodstock residents, local officials, and statewide housing partners yesterday to celebrate the creation of 28 new affordable rental apartments at the Safford Commons complex.  Safford Commons is on the site of the former Grange Hall and church on Route 4 in Woodstock.  While 24 of the new apartments are in newly-constructed buildings, four are in the buildings that already stood on the site