The Vermont Mayors Coalition (VMC) met at the State House yesterday to announce their legislative priorities for 2018. One of their primary goals was to increase the availability and quality of affordable housing.  To that end, VMC supports a $125,000 tax credit increase for the Vermont Down Payment Assistance Program, which is administered by Vermont Housing Finance Agency.

The Vermont House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs is holding hearings on rental housing health and safety issues. The Committee will hear from tenants, advocates, and health and housing experts on their concerns regarding unsafe rental conditions and gaps in health code enforcement.  

VHFA is proud to recognize staff who participated in the Employee Volunteer Program (EVP) in 2017.

The EVP program recognizes our responsibility to help enrich our surrounding communities of residence and work. VHFA encourages its employees to become involved in their communities, lending their voluntary support to programs that positively impact the quality of life within these communities. The program allows all regular VHFA employees one additional day of Combined Time Off each calendar year to volunteer in a community program.

Nine VHFA staff volunteered a total of 58 hours in 2017, a value of well over $2,000. Participation in the program has increased steadily over the past three years.

Below are some of the organizations where VHFA staff have volunteered:

Executive Director Sarah Carpenter announced that Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) has hired Sarah Woodward of Barre for the position of Development Underwriter. Woodward comes to VHFA from Aeon in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she worked as a site manager and compliance technician for affordable housing developments. Sarah is a graduate of the University of Vermont who previously worked for the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity on mobile home parks and other housing issues.