Last week the Vermont Statewide Housing Conference recognized the contributions of Julie Bond and Rick DeAngelis of Good Samaritan Haven by selecting them for this year’s Vermont Housing Hero award. Good Samaritan Haven is a non-profit providing emergency assistance to people experiencing homelessness in Central Vermont.
Bond and DeAngelis were selected to receive the award due to their dedication to expanding shelter capacity, providing stability for people experiencing homelessness and for shaping the non-profit into a critical resource of Central Vermont’s most vulnerable residents. Bond is the current Executive Director of Good Samaritan Haven and DeAngelis is Senior Advisor and the former executive director.
Presented by Gus Seelig, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board Executive Director, the award is a way to recognize and celebrate those whose leadership, vision and actions have brought about positive and lasting change in meeting Vermont’s housing needs.
“The partnership between Julie and Rick is both inspiring and vital to the community,” said Seelig. “Their leadership, resilience, and compassion have reshaped Good Samaritan Haven.”
“Rick and Julie exemplify the dramatic impact of collaboration,” explained Maura Collins, Executive Director of Vermont Housing Finance Agency. “By collaborating with each other, with the staff and board of Good Samaritan Haven and with the community they serve, these two housing heroes have improved the lives of neighbors in need.”
The Vermont Statewide Housing Conference has been held every other year for the past 20 years by Vermont Housing Finance Agency in partnership with a multi-agency conference planning committee. Last week’s conference, held on Thursday at the Doubletree by Hilton Burlington drew a record-breaking crowd of more than 500 Vermont housing professionals, advocates and decision makers.
Over the past 20 years, 15 individuals and 2 coalitions have received this award, including the most recent, 2022’s Housing Hero, Kathy Beyer of Evernorth. The Housing Hero award recipients are selected by a conference planning committee of representatives from 20 statewide agencies.