A recent article in the New York Times suggested that Vermont is ranked first in the nation in vacant homes. This may be surprising to many Vermonters, given the state’s extremely tight housing market. Diving into the data more closely shows that the vast majority of Vermont’s vacant homes are seasonal or vacation homes, which are considered to be vacant under the Census Bureau’s methodology, but not necessarily available to buyers or renters. Vacation homes have been prominent in Vermont’s housing stock for decades due to the state’s ski resorts and long-time desirability among tourists.
Ewelina Kowalik joins VHFA as Senior Finance and Accounting Analyst
Executive Director Maura Collins announced that Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) has selected Ewelina Kowalik (she/her) of South Burlington for the newly created role of Senior Finance and Accounting Analyst.
Kowalik is an accountant by training and has 14 years of accounting and finance experience. She comes to VHFA from the Community Development Trust, an affordable housing investor in New York City, where she was a Senior Accountant. Kowalik has a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting & Information Systems and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Queens College of the City University of New York.
Save the date for the 2022 Statewide Housing Conference
Planning has begun for the 2022 Statewide Housing Conference. After cancelling the conference in 2020, resuming this in-person, biennial conference feels like a welcome step out of the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic towards Vermont’s “new normal.”
Future strategies to promote homeownership opportunity for BIPOC Vermonters
This article was written by VHFA Spring Housing Fellow Christina Cramer
Board Meeting Agenda - April 2022
March_Board_Agenda_v2.pdf
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Agenda
Date of meeting:
Date of posting:
Overview of barriers perpetuating systemic inequality in housing, and strategies to help BIPOC households become homeowners.
AHP funding application opens June 6
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston (FHLBB)'s Affordable Housing Program (AHP) will begin to accept applications on June 6, 2022. The program will award a minimum of $10.6 million in subsidy funding through member institutions to organizations promoting homeownership and rental housing opportunities for low income households. This funding will support critical housing resources during a time of extreme housing shortage, affordability crisis and rising development costs.
PJ McHenry Jr.
Brian Vaughan
April is Fair Housing Month
April is Fair Housing Month, an opportunity to celebrate the anniversary of the passage of the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act, while also increasing our efforts to end housing discrimination, expand housing opportunity and raise awareness of housing rights.
The Fair Housing Project of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) and statewide partners are hosting a number of events throughout the month. These include: