Grants announced by Gov. Peter Shumlin in Rutland this week will help build and improve  affordable housing in Bennington County.

$2.4 million in Vermont Community Development Program grants will help the Town of Bennington, Regional Affordable Housing Corp. and Housing Vermont construct 14 new rental units and renovate 12 existing units.

The grants are funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Program. Funding for that program is at risk of being severely reduced.

Read more in the Bennington Banner story online.

VHFA's Policy and Planning Department will welcome Abby Smith as a research intern beginning Tuesday.

Abby, whose work will be funded by a Sustainable Communities Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission and VHFA, will focus on producing a housing needs assessment for Chittenden County.

March 16th's kick-off meeting for the Chittenden County Regional Sustainability Project will air on public access stations around the county, and is available as streaming video below.

The first meeting of the steering committee overseeing a two-year regional sustainability initiative is a partnership of Chittenden County municipalities, state and local agencies, institutions and non-profit organizations.

The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission is the primary agency providing staff support for the endeavor.

With the potential of a shutdown of the federal government looming tomorrow, we've received questions from people wondering what it would mean for VHFA and housing in Vermont.

Regardless of whether or not there's a shutdown, it will be business as usual for VHFA.

However, a number of federal housing programs managed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (See list below) could be interrupted, reason enough to hope Congress resolves this crisis before it happens.

Community planning and development