In the week since we distributed log-in credentials to attendees of the Nov. 18 Statewide Housing Conference, approximately 100 people have logged onto the site to access the attendees database and download presentation files.

The "members-only" area of the conference site contains nearly 180 MB of PowerPoint presentation files, as well as some online-only PDFs provided by conference speakers.

Visitors can search the attendees database by keyword (pictured), or download the entire thing in a variety of file formats.

Liz Curry of NeighborWorks Alliance of Vermont had a letter published in this week's Seven Days newspaper.

You can read her response to the paper's housing issue published last week at the Seven Days Web site.

VHFA just finished its latest food drive to benefit the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf.

Staff and the VHFA Board of Commissioners contributed 250 pounds of food, as well as $25 in cash donations.

This doesn't include donations collected from attendees of last week's Statewide Housing Conference (pictured), which likely rivaled or exceeded the amount collected at VHFA's offices.

The IRS calculates a pound of food to be worth $1.49, which means we all likely raised close to $800 for the food shelf.

VHFA honored Andy Gurley, recently-retired from UBS, for his decades of work with the Agency.

VHFA Executive Director Sarah Carpenter spoke about Andy's long history with the Agency at the 2008 Vermont Statewide Housing Conference, held last Tuesday.

A resident of Irvington, N.Y., Andy was instrumental in VHFA's creation in 1974, and has been a wise and loyal partner ever since, through his affiliation with an impressive list of financial institutions such as First Boston Corp., Morgan Stanley, Drexel Burnam Lambert, Paine Weber and UBS.