It's time for VHFA's annual mitten drive. This year, we will be donating stuffed mittens to benefit the Sarah Holbrook Youth Center and the King Street Youth Center. Both programs are vital community resources for children and teens. Please drop off mittens, gloves or hats at the VHFA office at 164 Saint Paul Street, Burlington by Wednesday, December 16th. Kids and Fitness, a local afterschool program run by The Edge Sports & Fitness, will fill and decorate the mittens with candy canes and ribbons and deliver them to the youth centers.

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 for your chance to win a $50 Home Depot gift card. The contest will run until Friday, November 27th and VHFA staff will vote on a winner.

VHFA intends to consider new projects for the federal 9% Housing Credit and Vermont State Housing Credits at the April 2016 VHFA Board of Commissioners meeting. In order to provide sufficient time to review the proposals from developers, VHFA must receive a complete application by January 29, 2016.

Housing preserved by federal and state tax credits -- awarded by VHFA – was recently highlighted as a national example of effective use of public dollars. The $12 million in equity raised by the credits, along with other efforts led by VHFA to keep apartments in the Bobbin Mill and Wharf Lane buildings near Burlington’s waterfront affordable, are the subject of a recent HUD newsletter.