Vermont Housing Fellow Program
VHFA is seeking candidates for its Housing Fellow Program for Spring 2025. Candidates must be graduate students who are enrolled at an accredited program, with an interest in learning more about affordable housing careers. The program provides students with the opportunity to relate knowledge gained in the classroom to practical, real-world settings. Weekly projects are tailored to improving and expanding information available to decision makers about Vermont housing markets and opportunities.
Fellows will be assigned projects that entail conducting housing research and summarizing results in articles for publication. The Fellow may also be asked to support public relations and housing program data projects, such as web site content development and data entry regarding building characteristics and rent levels. Fellows must live in Vermont although some work may be done remotely.
The Fellow will be paid at a rate of $18/hour, for 10-20 hours per week, depending on their schedule. One fellowship will generally be offered at a time, for a 12-week period, for a total of three per year.
VHFA is intentionally looking to increase its diversity of thought and experience. Candidates of color and historically underserved populations who are interested in the affordable housing profession in a rural state like Vermont are encouraged to apply.
Please contact VHFA’s Human Resources Department at [email protected] for more information or to apply. Internship course credits may be available through your own university or through University of Vermont’s Public Administration program. For information about University of Vermont credits, please contact Julie Starr at [email protected].
Past projects of Vermont Housing Fellows
Vermont Zoning Atlas
During his Vermont Housing Fellowship in the spring of 2024, Dakota Walker joined the analyst team of the Vermont Zoning Atlas project. He analyzed municipal zoning codes of 5 towns in Rutland and Caledonia counties. The Vermont Zoning Atlas was launched in response to a nation-wide call for zoning code standardization and mapping to inform decisions about housing, community development and climate change.
Community housing data and zoning code analysis
Magali Stowell Alemán worked with VHFA researchers in the Spring 2023 to update dozens of visualizations about housing markets and residents in every Vermont community and county. The updated visualizations, accessible on housingdata.org, are widely used by planners, policy makers and practitioners to learn about housing needs in their location. In the Summer 2023, she spent the majority of her fellowship time as a zoning analyst on the Vermont Zoning Atlas project.
Housing needs in Williston, Vermont
Olivia Lavecchia, the Vermont Housing Fellow during Fall 2022, completed a housing needs summary for Williston, Vermont, identifying issues related to housing affordability and availability for current residents and employees in the town.
Housing Needs Assessment Guide
Summer 2022 Vermont Housing Fellow Madelyn Stoen revised VHFA's Housing Needs Assessment Guide for Vermont communities, assisted with outreach for the Vermont Homeowner Assistance Program and helped prepare for the biannual Statewide Housing Conference.
Housing commission onboarding materials
In Summer 2022, Minelle Sarfo-Adu prepared materials to help local housing commissions educate new members, and assisted the Agency in archiving historical files.
Promoting homeownership for BIPOC Vermonters
Spring 2022 Vermont Housing Fellow Christina Cramer assisted with outreach for the Vermont Homeowner Assistance Program and conducted research on current barriers to homeownership for BIPOC Vermonters and potential strategies to expand homeownership opportunity.
Outreach strategies for underserved Vermonters
Fall 2021 Vermont Housing Fellow Barbara Asiimwe conducted research on outreach and marketing strategies for underserved groups as well as assisting VHFA with updating data and managing content on the Vermont Housing Data website.
Survey on zoning barriers and incentives in Vermont towns
During the summer of 2021, Vermont Housing Fellow Ben Harrold authored a report on the obstacles present to affordable home development in Vermont municipalities and the regulatory policies in place to encourage affordability. The data were collected from a survey of town officials co-created by the VHFA and the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development.
Housing barriers for immigrants and refugees to Vermont
In December 2020, Housing Fellow Regine Albin completed research and a report on housing barriers for immigrants and refugees to Vermont. After conducting interviews with area service providers and reviewing prior studies, Albin identified key areas for improving access to housing for immigrants to Vermont through improved language translation, outreach, affordable housing, workforce diversity, transportation and funding for culturally-specific organizations.
Vermont Directory of Affordable Rental Housing
Emerald Anderson, Vermont Housing Fellow during the summer of 2020, expanded the information available about the nearly 14,000 affordable apartments statewide with development costs subsidized through public programs, such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. Anderson gathered information on the Census Tracts for each apartment complex in the Vermont Directory of Affordable Rental Housing and updated each digital property profile.
Vermont Housing Needs
During her Vermont Housing Fellowship in the spring of 2020, Caroline Rubin joined VHFA researchers in finalizing the 2020 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment, a comprehensive report on housing needs statewide and in each Vermont county. In addition, Rubin prepared a summary of housing needs in the town of Shelburne, Vermont and helped VHFA researchers add new indicators to the Vermont Housing Data website about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at state and local level.