Spurred by our publication of "Family Homelessness in Vermont" (388 KB; PDF), the fourth in a series of VHFA issue papers released last week, there have been a number of stories about homelessness in local media.

The Associated Press picked up the story that appeared in The Burlington Free Press, which led to coverage in the Boston Globe and USA Today, among others. (Here's the Brattleboro Reformer's abbreviated version of the story: "Homeless families rise in Vermont".)

Julie Heffernan with National Bank of Middlebury in Middlebury is VHFA's top mortgage loan originator in Addison County for 2008.

VHFA's fiscal year ends June 30, so summer is when we announce all our top originators for the previous year. We'll be announcing the rest of our top originators throughout the summer.

Congratulations, Julie!

A recent study released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University finds the current housing downturn could be the worst in a generation.

The report shows the number of homeowners paying more than half their income on housing increased from 6.5 million in 2001 to 8.8 million in 2006.

VHFA wrapped up its eight-week walking program with Loss Management Specialist Polly Thibault as the Agency's top walker.

For walking a total 293 miles, Polly won a beach bag full of beach necessities and a gift certificate for lunch.

Director of Administration Pat Loller was a close second.

The program encouraged staff members to wear Agency-supplied pedometers to count their steps and increase their physical activity. We tracked progress of each participant on a map representing a path from Burlington, Vt., to the coast of Maine, more than 210 miles away.