"Wellness 2008" continues at VHFA tomorrow with the start of our "Eight-Week Walking Program."

Participating staff are gearing up with pedometers (pictured) to count their steps and measure the miles they walk between May 3 and June 27.

Each week, participants will submit a log to VHFA administrators detailing their progress. Markers on a map will reflect the miles that each staffer has walked as a path to reach the beach on the coast of Maine.

The walking program is one example of VHFA's ongoing staff wellness initiative.

Montpelier Mayor Mary Hooper declared the week of May 18-24 "Montpelier Affordable Housing Week."

The mayor's official declaration recognizes "great leadership" among many interests in working "to increase the number of affordable homes in Montpelier.

"However," it continues, "despite this excellent work to make this city more affordable, there is much work to be done."

Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies has just released "America's Rental Housing: The Key to a Balanced National Policy."

"The damage from today's mortgage foreclosure crisis reaches deep into the rental market," the report states. "With affordability already a long-standing problem, the current housing debacle not only adds to the number of households competing for low-cost rentals and threatens current renters with eviction from their homes, but also increases the costs of financing rental housing construction and preservation.

VHFA has just published our Green Building and Design Standards for housing developers.

The standards, which were approved by VHFA's Board of Commissioners on April 7, encourage developers who apply for VHFA financing and Housing Credits to embrace green practices, materials and design in the planning and construction of their buildings.