The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) awarded more than $216 million to nearly 700 new homeless programs across the country. The grants are $26 million more than last year’s, and, combined with renewal funding announced earlier this year, represent the most homelessness assistance ever awarded by HUD.

Vermont will receive $128,400 in "Shelter Plus Care" (S+C) funds.

The S+C program provides housing and supportive services on a long-term basis for homeless persons with disabilities and their families who are living on the streets and in emergency shelters.

The Stowe Reporter published a story today about last week's "Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Housing and Wages in Vermont."

The article, "Poverty in Vermont: Housing costs put squeeze on poor," is the second in a three-part series devoted to challenges of the poor. Read the article online.

VHFA Policy & Planning Manager Maura Collins will be a featured speaker at tonight's "Put People First: Housing is a Human Right" event in Barre.

Presented by the Vermont Workers' Center in Burlington, the event examines the issue of how we can meet the needs of working class people to achieve housing justice.

Maura will speak about Vermont's affordable housing needs, and how you can get involved locally.

The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight at the Aldrich Public Library, 6 Washington St., Barre.

For more information, call 861-4VWC.

Three reports from the Center for Community Capital conclude that job and income losses are driving today's foreclosures, and suggest solutions.

The first wave of foreclosures were mostly the result of bad mortgage products and policy, according to the Center. Since the first quarter of 2009, however, the driving factors have been the loss of jobs and income.

The Center concludes, "In the long run, foreclosures that result because borrowers lose their jobs require new solutions that focus on the underlying issues of unemployment, such as the Hardest Hit Fund, and are flexible and targeted.