VHFA News

VHFA recently began partnering with CarShare Vermont to offer its staff access to shared vehicles for business travel. This initiative will allow the Agency to reduce its carbon footprint while making travel more convenient and more affordable for its staff.

VHFA has long encouraged housing development in downtown, walkable areas, with the goal of connecting Vermont renters with jobs, schools and amenities, reducing reliance on cars and decreasing harmful emissions. However, going without a personal vehicle in Vermont can be challenging. Even if Vermonters are able to go without a car or reduce the number of cars in their household, it is often necessary to travel to rural areas that don’t have robust public transportation.

Car sharing services can help bridge these gaps. VHFA serves the entire state of Vermont, and its staff travel hundreds of miles each year to inspect rental housing for compliance, visit construction sites, attend public meetings and offer homebuyer information seminars. The Agency wanted to make it possible for its staff to do this vital work without having to rely on a personal vehicle to travel to Vermont’s far-flung cities and towns.

With the Agency’s partnership with CarShare Vermont, VHFA employees can now bike or take the bus to work in the morning, then take a car to business meetings. As part of its business membership, VHFA staff also have access to personal memberships at no additional cost. Vehicles come equipped with gas cards and free roadside assistance.

The car sharing initiative is one of several VHFA efforts to promote sustainability and employee wellness, including covering the cost of bus passes, comprehensive recycling and composting, on-site bicycle repair clinics, LED lighting and energy efficiancy updates to the building, and reducing printing and paper use.

VHFA Executive Director Maura Collins joined Housing Vermont and Addison County Community Trust (ACCT) in Bristol last week to celebrate the redevelopment of Pleasant Hills. The complex offers 16 affordable one and two bedroom-apartments for seniors in a village setting. The project received the majority of its funding from federal tax credits and loans awarded by VHFA.

Pleasant Hills was first built as affordable housing in 1980. However, after over thirty years of service, the property was in need of updates to improve energy efficiency and accessibility. Housing Vermont acquired the site in 2014 and has partnered with Addison County Community Trust to manage the apartments. Improvements include infrastructure upgrades, weatherization and heating systems replacement and updates to living spaces. Staff from Housing Vermont and ACCT built raised garden beds to hold flowers and vegetables donated by Red Wagon Nursery.

Resident Harvey Hart, Jr., who goes by ‘Junior’, remarked, “I can’t express how it looks around here…It’s lovely and it feels more like home than it ever has.”

All of the apartments receive HUD Section 8 Project Based Assistance, which limits the rent to 30 percent of household income, the federal standard of affordability. In addition, all residents will have access to SASH (Support and Services at Home), a care-coordination program that helps residents live safely, comfortably, and independently. Pleasant Hills is located close to the center of Bristol, with easy access to shopping and other amenities.

Resident Theresa Robidoux said, “This place is a really good home, the best I’ve ever had.”

The $3.3 million project was made possible in part by a generous $290,000 interest-free loan from New England Federal Credit Union that is being administered by VHFA. The project also received $955,500 in equity from federal housing tax credits and a $610,000 permanent loan awarded by VHFA.  The project also received funding from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) HOME program, and the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP).