Melinda Bussino, long-time advocate for homeless Vermonters, died Sunday after suffering a heart attack a week earlier. She was 65.

Melinda was the Executive Director of the Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center, a day center and community food shelf for the homeless and lonely, which she helped found in the late 1980s.

Her years of commitment and leadership providing comfort and shelter to homeless Vermonters, and her tireless advocacy on their behalf, was widely recognized. In 2008, Melinda won the Housing Hero award at VHFA's statewide, biennial Vermont Housing Conference.

According to annual housing vacancy statistics compiled by the Census Bureau, the estimated statewide rental vacancy rate fell in Vermont from 6.1% in 2010 to 4.2% in 2011--the lowest in the nation, with the exception of Oregon. Nationally, the rental vacancy rate was 9.5% in 2011. 

Vermont's owner vacancy rate remained about the same in 2011 at 1.7%. The national owner vacancy rate was 2.5%. 

Review the Census reports. 

Emphasizing the importance of economic recovery in distressed areas, U.S. Department of the Treasury's announced last week the award of $3.6 billion in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) nationwide, including $35 million for Vermont projects.  

The NMTC, established by Congress in December 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making equity investments in vehicles known as Community Development Entities. Vermont Rural Ventures, Inc., operated by Housing Vermont, was selected along with 69 other entities, to distribute the 2011 tax credits.   Over 314 entites applied nationwide.

Like the rest of New England, 3.8 percent of Vermont's home mortgages were in foreclosure as of December 31, 2011, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association National Delinquency Survey.

The portion of Vermont mortages in foreclosure rose fairly dramatically compared to prior months. Between September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2011, this rate increased more in Vermont than in any other state.