More than $2.3 million in federal stimulus money is coming to help the Rutland Housing Authority (RHA) redevelop Forest Park.

"We're one of just a handful of communities that were awarded these public housing transformation dollars and I think that really speaks to the work the community has done," RHA executive director Kevin Loso said in a recent Rutland Herald article.

RHA plans to demolish the existing project and rebuild it as single-family homes and apartments.

Total cost of the project is approximately $21 million.

Read the Herald's story about Forest Park.

Abby Krause has wrapped up her one-year stint as an AmeriCorps *VISTA member working at the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition in Burlington.

"This year has been an incredible experience," she wrote to VAHC member organizations on her final day last week. "I have learned more than I could have ever hoped to."

VAHC Coordinator Erhard Mahnke will welcome a new AmeriCorps *VISTA member in November.

Seven Days, the Burlington area's alternative weekly newspaper, made Burlington's tight rental market its cover story this week.

In "Unfair Market," Andy Bromage writes "Burlington ... continues to boast one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country: an astonishing 1.3 percent. In other words, for every 1,000 apartments in the city, just 13 are available for rent at any given time.

"A 5 percent vacancy is considered healthy for a city; anything lower than that is considered “tight."

The Sept. 9 joint meeting of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition and Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness will feature guest speakers Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin and House Speaker Shap Smith.

They will share their perspectives on the past year and the year ahead.

Jen Peterson from the Vermont Community Foundation will discuss how the Foundation can help non-profits face the current tough economic times.