Events

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.

The Vermont Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIAVT) is partnering with the Vermont Chapter of the Constructions Specifications Institute (CSI VT) to offer pro-bono design and planning input for Vermont nonprofits, municipalities, and community-based groups.

The State of Vermont's Department of Housing and Community Development will conduct a public hearing to receive input on its Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Consolidated 2019 Action Plan.

Once again, VHFA is hosting a virtual auction to benefit United Way. Online bidding is now live.  

The theme of this year’s auction is "Vermont Made". The auction features over 75 items from Vermont companies and artisans, donated by staff and local businesses. This is an amazing opportunity to support a worthy cause, highlight the work of talented Vermonters, and finish your holiday shopping stress-free. 

Over 400 housing professionals from across Vermont came together this week at the Hilton Burlington to discuss strategies to promote stable, affordable housing. The high level of attendance at the conference reflected the concern that many Vermont communities feel over the increasing cost of housing in their communities.

“This opportunity to connect and learn about new paths to addressing housing imbalances in Vermont communities could not come at a better time,” remarked Vermont Housing Finance Agency Executive Director Sarah Carpenter. “We are hearing much more frequently from our municipal partners that they are ready to look at new ways to expand housing opportunities in their jurisdictions,” she continued.

Last week, Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) celebrated Halloween with a staff benefit event for United Way of Northwest Vermont. During the event, VHFA was honored to receive the President’s Award in recognition for its support of United Way in 2017.

Among the Halloween festivities were trick-or-treating for children of staff and costume and pumpkin carving contests. Entry fees from the contests will be donated to United Way.

Vermont Resident Service Coordinators (VRSC) is hosting a training on “Smoke-free Housing Now: Checking in on the Challenges and Successes” on November 28, 2018, from 10:00 a.m. to noon at the Royalton Academy Building, in South Royalton. This training is sponsored by Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), Vermont Housing Managers Association (VHMA), and Burlington Housing Authority (BHA).

Materials about the potential impact and programmatic aspects of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are now available following workshops held recently in Burlington by Homeshare Vermont and AARP-VT, and in West Lebanon by the Vital Communities campaign. 

Area software developers and web designers gathered Saturday to use their technical expertise to improve the availability of affordable housing in the Green Mountain State.  Thanks to Code for BTV, Burlington joined over 35 cities across the country in bringing civic-minded, tech-savvy individuals together with housing organizations to help improve the flow of information about housing to the people who need it.

Donald Webster one of the original framers of VHFA died earlier this month at the age of 82.  As Vermont's Secretary of Development and Community Affairs from 1972 through 1976, Webster helped develop VHFA from its outset in 1974.  Faced with a serious mortgage funds crunch across the state, Webster and VHFA's first Board of Commissioners created a Loans to Lenders Program that met with an overwhelming response. Within 3 months of the program's start, the program had committed funds to over 500 Vermont qualified home buyers.