CNN segment on Mark Horvath, a former television executive and homeless man, who has established a Web site to let homeless people tell their stories.

A new homeless shelter could be opening in Bellows Falls this winter.

Approximately 35 people attended a public forum last night to discuss plans to open an overnight shelter at 33 Canal Street. According to the story in this morning's Brattleboro Reformer, most who spoke at the gathering support the initiative.

The shelter would be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and provide space for 15 people.

Read the Reformer story online.

Today is the registration deadline for Vermont Housing & Conservation Board's Dec. 16 workshop "Updating Capital Needs Assessments."

The workshop will present today's "best practices" for use and in-house updating of Capital Needs Assessments (CNAs). It's designed for housing managers, asset managers and other housing professionals who are trying to more fully integrate CNAs into their asset management system and who wish to update in-house CNAs that've been prepared by independent consultants.

Presented by affordable housing consultant Tom Dillon. A manual detailing a systematic approach for updating and using CNAs will be provided to those who attend.

AmeriCorps*VISTA member Marissa Fischer has joined the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition (VAHC) for a 1-year term of service.

Marissa is a June 2009 graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology/Anthropology.

Since graduating, Marissa has worked as a Project Supervisor for Amigos de las Américas in the Dominican Republic and Honduras.