Housing Matters blog

New England Resident Service Coordinators (NERSC) President Lynn Lippitt (left) presented VHFA Executive Director Sarah Carpenter (right) an award for VHFA’s 10 years of support of NERSC.

She made the presentation at NERSC’s 10th anniversary conference held at the North Conway Grand Hotel in North Conway, N.H., May 6-9.

VHFA Director of Multifamily Programs Sam Falzone serves on the NERSC Board of Directors.

The next annual NERSC conference comes to the Hilton on Burlington’s waterfront April 29-May 1, 2009.

Learn more about resident service coordinators, the role they play in housing, and the history of NERSC at the NERSC Web site.

While we can’t take time out of the day to draw your attention to each and every nifty gadget the Internet offers, we thought this one might be of interest:

If you’d like to receive Housing Matters blog posts delivered automatically to your email in-box, try RSS FWD.

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The Vermont Banking Division of the Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities & Health Care Administration is now offering Vermonters free, confidential mortgage assistance on its new toll-free number: (888) 568-4547.

The number, part of the new Mortgage Assistance Program, is intended to help Vermonters facing foreclosure explore refinancing and counseling options.

The program is part of Gov. Jim Douglas’s economic stimulus package, which he announced last month.

Learn more about the program and the assistance it offers at the Mortgage Assistance Program Web site.

Gov. Jim Douglas has appointed Thomas N. Pelletier of Montpelier to the VHFA Board of Commissioners.

“Tom’s been a highly-respected member of Vermont’s lending community for a decade,” says Executive Director Sarah Carpenter. “We’re all looking forward to the energy and fresh perspective he’ll bring to our Board.”

He’s been President and Chief Executive Officer of Northfield Savings Bank in Northfield since 1998, and fills the vacancy created by the departure of Paul Beaulieu, former Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer of Factory Point National Bank.

For more details on Tom’s background, read our press release (1.2 MB; PDF).

VHFA Loss Management Specialist Polly Thibault has won the first award in the Agency’s current walking program.

Polly won a gift card to Healthy Living Natural Foods in South Burlington for walking the most steps of any staff member last week: 68,687!

We’re in the second week of VHFA’s eight-week walking program, encouraging staff members to wear Agency-supplied pedometers to count their steps and increase their physical activity.

Read more about our walking program.

VHFA has just published “The Costs and Benefits of Assisting Vermont’s Chronic Homelessness.”

The 14-page report compares the costs of repeatedly serving people with serious disabilities and long histories of homelessness through expensive systems such as emergency rooms, prisons, and shelters with the costs of providing permanent supportive housing. It draws from studies already done in communities across the country.

The report was written and published by staff members from VHFA, Vermont Housing & Conservation Board and Vermont Agency of Human Services, with review by The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

Read the study online (948 kb; PDF), or contact VHFA to receive hardcopies.

Valley Cares (West River Valley Senior Housing & Assisted Living) has won a Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award from the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition (AHTCC) in Washington, D.C.

AHTCC presents the awards each year to the most outstanding Housing Credit properties in six categories, celebrating the best in affordable rental housing development.

The West Townshend property won in the Senior Housing category. Read the rest of this entry

This past weekend’s COTS Walk raised $143,000 to benefit the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) in Burlington.

The annual 3-mile walk around downtown Burlington raises money and awareness to benefit COTS’s mission to provide emergency shelter, services, and housing for the homeless.

Mark your calendar: Next year’s COTS Walk is set for Sunday, May 3.

VHFA held its second annual Kids Craft Day yesterday, to benefit the United Way.

Children aged 3-12 participated by making a variety of craft projects and a Mother’s Day card in the VHFA Board Room.

By charging each child’s parent/guardian a participation fee, the event raised $200 for the United Way of Chittenden County.

VHFA is a long-time supporter of the United Way, winning the organization’s “President’s Award” and “Campaign of the Year” in past years.

The Agency’s United Way Committee consists of Scott Baker, Kathy Cawley, Lori Gilding, Pat Loller, Martha Panton, Erin Perrin and Ann-Marie Plank.

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.

Learn more about the MacArthur Foundation’s housing initiative and Vermont’s proposal: Read the press release.