Partner organizations

The recent federal budget agreement included the survival of a program that has become a vital funding source for affordable rental housing in Vermont--the HOME Investment Partnership Program.  When proposals arose earlier last year to deeply cut the program, the National Association of Housing Finance Agencies (NCSHA) HOME Coalition tirelessly and effectively gathered evidence of the program’s impact, documen

A bus from The Edge Kids & Fitness after school program brought 25 young helpers to VHFA yesterday for the Agency’s annual mitten stuffing. Aliya  (pictured) and her fellow elves got right to work in VHFA’s board room, helping to stuff 175 sets of mittens, hats and gloves with candy. VHFA will deliver the bounty this afternoon to the Sara Holbrook Center and King Street Youth Center for distribution to local kids and teens in need. 

Two measures that help address the affordable housing needs of low-income Vermonters are likely to be passed in federal tax and omnibus spending bills on Capitol Hill this month.

Earlier this week, HUD published the final 2016 Fair Market Rent standards that will take effect as of tomorrow, December 11, 2015. FMRs are intended to represent the dollar amount below which 40 percent of the standard-quality rental housing units in an area are rented. They are used in HUD rental assistance programs, including the Section 8 and HOME programs.

Housing preserved by federal and state tax credits -- awarded by VHFA – was recently highlighted as a national example of effective use of public dollars. The $12 million in equity raised by the credits, along with other efforts led by VHFA to keep apartments in the Bobbin Mill and Wharf Lane buildings near Burlington’s waterfront affordable, are the subject of a recent HUD newsletter. 

The number of people who stayed in Vermont's emergency shelters last year and the average length of their stays were at their highest point in a decade. According to a recent report from Vermont's Department for Children and Families (DCF), publicly-supported emergency shelters in the state served 4,303 people in July 2014 through June 2015, up from 3,934 in the prior year.

The American Institute of Architects, in conjunction with HUD, is now accepting entries for the 2016 Housing and Community Design Awards Program.  Owners of structures and architects licensed in the United States are invited to submit project designs of any size, budget, or style.  Only projects completed after January, 1, 2011 will be considered for the awards. All entries must be submitted electronically before November 20, 2015 at 5:00 pm EST.

The Citizens' Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) has issued a request for proposals to rural communities interested in applying for funding to host a community design workshop in 2016 or 2017.