Accessibility

The Rutland community celebrated the groundbreaking of Maplewood Commons Apartments on May 21st. The event signifies the new construction of 30 permanently affordable homes near Rutland’s city center.  

On Monday, February 10, the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) and other project funders and supporters, gathered in Waterbury, VT for the groundbreaking ceremony of Marsh House, a mixed-income project that will serve 26 low-income households. Unique to the project are three apartments which will be occupied by individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities. 

The Vermont Agency of Human Services (AHS) is currently designing the Medicaid Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Assistance Program. This new program is for adults who have Medicaid and who meet certain health and risk criteria. The Program will provide people with access to help getting and keeping housing as well as the support services and connection to resources that provide rental assistance. 

National Fair Housing Month is held every April to celebrate the anniversary of the passage of the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act. At the same time, it is an opportunity to increase our efforts to end housing discrimination and raises awareness of housing rights.

Accessibility Matters is offering an online training program called  “Home Sweet Accessible Home:  Mitigating Liability in Accessible / Adaptable Multifamily Housing” on October 10th, 12th or 19th, 2016.

Learn more and register.

Executive Director Sarah Carpenter joined partners from Cathedral Square and other agencies to launch construction of Elm Place, a 30-unit building for seniors in Milton. Elm Place will be Vermont’s first multi-family building certified to Passive House standards. Better windows and doors, added insulation and improved air sealing are expected to enable the building to use roughly 65 percent less energy. 

The toolbox for enabling seniors who want to grow older in their current homes is becoming increasingly effective, according to experts consulted in a recent How Housing Matters article.

Few housing units in the U.S. are accessible for people with disabilities and even fewer are both affordable and accessible, according to a recent comprehensive study from HUD.   About a third of housing in the U.S.

The average aging baby boomer plans to “age in place” which will create new levels of demand for remodeling of the currently inaccessible homes they live in, confirms a recent report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.