If the new National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, part of the housing relief initiative recently signed into law by President Bush, sounds familiar, it might be because the model for it was developed in Burlington more than 20 years ago.
The Burlington Community Land Trust, now Champlain Housing Trust, was created under Bernie Sanders — then Mayor of Burlington, now U.S. Senator — as a way to create perpetually affordable housing.
The idea caught on, and now there are more then 240 affordable housing trusts across the nation, according to a story in this morning's Burlington Free Press.
Read more about Champlain Housing Trust at their Web site. More about the National Housing Trust Fund is at the National Low Income Housing Coalition site.