As the fog lifted over a brilliant Lake Champlain, eight VHFA-ers raced to the finish line Saturday morning at the Colchester Causeway 5k & 15k Race. Joe Erdelyi, Brittany Garland and Sara Everest showed their endurance with flying colors in the 15k race, while the rest of us happily reached our 5k goals. Saturday’s race capped a multi-month C25K (“couch to 5k”) agency wellness initiative organized by Office Manager Lori Gilding earlier this spring.  Marathoner Robin Howe from VHFA's Development and Multifamily Management departments handed out much-appreciated cups of water along the route.

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June is a terrific time to reflect on the importance of homeownership in this country, especially in Vermont where residents are more likely than in most states to own their homes. VHFA is working with local lenders across the state to extend the opportunity to own a home to even more Vermonters through low interest loans from a trusted non-profit source.

First-time home buyer Dorothy Pfende told us that what she likes most about the home she recently purchased with a VHFA mortgage is the freedom and feeling of achievement. Moving to the U.S. five years earlier, Dorothy is proud of how quickly she was able to reach her goal of homeownership. "If you aim high, the sky is the limit" she remarked.

Black and Latino mortgage applicants from New England continued to experience much higher denial rates than whites and Asians in 2013 and 2014, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s recent study.  The disparity occurred at every income level. Even at the highest income level tracked in the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data set used for the study ($150,000+), blacks and Latinos, respectively, were almost 2 times and 1.3 times more likely to be denied a loan relative to whites with equivalent earnings.

Don't forget to enter VHFA's photo contest for your chance to win a $50 gift card to Bed Bath & Beyond. All you have to do to enter is take a picture of what you are most thankful for about your home and tag us on Facebook, Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), or Twitter, @vhfa, or feel free to email your photo to us at [email protected]