Events

At the invitation of Senator Patrick Leahy, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro visited Burlington yesterday to meet with the state’s housing leaders and attend a ribbon-cutting at the new Bright Street affordable housing project.

Register today!

Every other year Vermont holds a Vermont Statewide Housing Conference immediately after the election. This year, the conference will again be held at the Hilton Burlington but with many exciting changes and offering twice as much as in prior years, including:

Interviews with residents of subsidized rental housing in Vermont will be the core of a new story telling project launched by the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition.

The first interview shared through the project is with Angela Devoid, a single mother living at Moose River Apartments in St. Johnbury.  Listen to her story.

Angela's home and the 27 others at her apartment complex were made affordable in 2003 through Low Income Housing Tax Credits allocated by VHFA and the USDA’s Rural Development 515 program.

For Burlington area Pokémon Go trainers, VHFA is doing its part to lure Pokémon to the corner of St. Paul and King Streets near our office. This little guy was spotted just this morning!

Check back throughout the work week while our office is open from 8:00 to 4:30 for your chance to catch more.

Thanks to VHFA housing credits and other funding sources, the historic Darling Inn, a perpetually affordable apartment building in Lyndonville, reopened its doors this weekend with much celebration.  Executive Director, Sarah Carpenter, joined Senator Patrick Leahy and other partners at Saturday’s ribbon cutting.

Building Homes Together  was launched yesterday. It is a collaboration of organizations and communities seeking to remedy some of the most pressing challenges in Chittenden County’s housing market.

“The housing shortage in Chittenden County has been well noted with unhealthy vacancy rates and high rents,” added Charlie Baker, Executive Director of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission. “Employers can’t find workers, and workers themselves spend more time in commutes and with a higher percentage of their paychecks on housing costs.” 

Together over 100 individuals representing local municipalities, institutions, employers, bankers, builders, and others -- including VHFA -- have signed on to support this effort.

As the fog lifted over a brilliant Lake Champlain, eight VHFA-ers raced to the finish line Saturday morning at the Colchester Causeway 5k & 15k Race. Joe Erdelyi, Brittany Garland and Sara Everest showed their endurance with flying colors in the 15k race, while the rest of us happily reached our 5k goals. Saturday’s race capped a multi-month C25K (“couch to 5k”) agency wellness initiative organized by Office Manager Lori Gilding earlier this spring.  Marathoner Robin Howe from VHFA's Development and Multifamily Management departments handed out much-appreciated cups of water along the route.

Check out our Facebook page for more photos.

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 project has an anticipated opening date of March 2017. Residents will benefit from Support and Services at Home (SASH) care coordination which supports aging in place through an on-site SASH coordinator and part-time wellness nurse. Two apartments are fully ADA accessible and all apartments are adaptable.