Taking place shortly after the midterm and statewide elections, the 2018 Vermont Statewide Housing Conference on November 13 and 14 will provide many opportunities to get your questions answered about how the election results will affect Vermont.

A legislative breakfast reception on Wednesday the 14^th will allow conference attendees to network with state legislators as well as staff from the offices of all three Vermont federal legislators. The winner of the Vermont governor's race has also been invited to address the audience on their vision of housing in Vermont.

Earlier this month, Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) joined Downstreet Housing & Community Development in celebrating the completion of renovations of the Winooski River Apartments in Montpelier. The project was funded in part by VHFA, which awarded both state and federal tax credits as well as construction financing. This renovation allows Downstreet to preserve affordable, historic apartments while significantly improving the energy-efficiency and accessibility of the buildings.

This week Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) received national recognition for pioneering the use of state housing tax credits to provide down payment assistance to low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Since the Vermont Affordable Housing Tax Credit was originally created in 2000 to fund creating and preserving affordable apartments for low income renters, VHFA led the effort to expand it to help two more types of underserved Vermonters: first-time home buyers and buyers of energy-efficient manufactured homes.

Consensus is growing quickly that improving housing options is essential to improving the health of Vermonters.  Released this week, early results of the 2019 Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties Community Health Needs Assessment show affordable housing as the top-ranked concern among social and environmental health challenges. To help connect the people and systems focused on housing and health care, the upcoming Vermont Statewide Housing Conference on November 13-14 in Burlington will provide several innovative opportunities to move forward.