The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has named Vermont a finalist in a competition for up to $5 million to help preserve and improve affordable housing.

The state's proposal, submitted by Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) and the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB), is one of 21 finalists selected from more than 80 submissions.

Vermont's initiative would use the funding to support state rental housing preservation efforts targeted at more than 8,000 apartments in 123 towns over the next decade.

The foundation will eventually award a total of $35 million in grants and low-interest loans to 10 winners in early 2009.

"Wellness 2008" continues at VHFA tomorrow with the start of our "Eight-Week Walking Program."

Participating staff are gearing up with pedometers (pictured) to count their steps and measure the miles they walk between May 3 and June 27.

Each week, participants will submit a log to VHFA administrators detailing their progress. Markers on a map will reflect the miles that each staffer has walked as a path to reach the beach on the coast of Maine.

The walking program is one example of VHFA's ongoing staff wellness initiative.

Montpelier Mayor Mary Hooper declared the week of May 18-24 "Montpelier Affordable Housing Week."

The mayor's official declaration recognizes "great leadership" among many interests in working "to increase the number of affordable homes in Montpelier.

"However," it continues, "despite this excellent work to make this city more affordable, there is much work to be done."

Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies has just released "America's Rental Housing: The Key to a Balanced National Policy."

"The damage from today's mortgage foreclosure crisis reaches deep into the rental market," the report states. "With affordability already a long-standing problem, the current housing debacle not only adds to the number of households competing for low-cost rentals and threatens current renters with eviction from their homes, but also increases the costs of financing rental housing construction and preservation.