Housing Matters blog

This evening’s “Live at 5:25″ show on Channel 17 will feature an interview with VHFA’s Policy and Planning Manager, Maura Collins.   She will review the results of VHFA’s recent study of the demographics, housing stock, and affordability challenges of residents in Burlington’s downtown and waterfront neighborhoods.

VHFA prepared the report for the City of Burlington as part of it’s PlanBTV project aimed at developing a comprehensive land use and development plan for Burlington’s downtown and waterfront areas.

Read the report.

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In addition to FEMA’s Public Assistance and Individual Assistance programs, federal mitigation funds are available to all Vermont towns through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).

Charged with administering the program, Vermont Emergency Management is now accepting HMGP applications from towns and agencies in all Vermont counties in connection with the Tropical Storm Irene. 

Another round of awards will be made in the spring, with an application deadline of March 16, 2012. 

Read more or download an application.

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The Obama administration sent Congress its FY 2013 budget this week, proposing changes to the housing credit program to provide incentives for creating mixed-income housing and to allow a 30 percent basis boost for some 4 percent credit, tax-exempt bond-financed preservation projects. It also proposes repealing the mortgage revenue bond (MRB) program purchase price limit and refinancing restriction.

In terms of HUD programs, the budget proposes increasing funding for housing choice vouchers, homeless assistance, and Section 202 housing for the elderly. It proposes cutting funding for the project-based Section 8 and Section 811 housing for persons with disabilities program. It provides level funding for HOME and the community development block grant (CDBG) programs. The budget also again proposes $1 billion in new funding to launch the housing trust fund.

Read more budget highlights summarized by the National Council for State Housing Agencies.

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VHFA’s Legal Coordinator, Brenda Howley, recently returned from a trip in India, following a path that began 27 years ago. 

Since adopting her daughter from Calcutta in 1984, Brenda has dreamed of creating a safe, loving home for other Indian children in need.   She created a non-profit called The Howley Foundation to help make this dream a reality. 

Through a partnership with a Pune, India-based non-profit organization called Maher (“mother’s home”), Brenda’s Howley Foundation has committed to creating a new children’s group home in Calcutta.   Although Calcutta is one of India’s largest cities, with an extremely large population of needy children, Brenda’s home will be the first Maher home there. 

To raise the funds needed to support the costs of housing and caring for the children in this new home, fellow VHFA-er Cindy Reid suggested the raffle of a beautiful hand-made twin-sized quilt finished recently by Cindy’s mother, Marjorie Reid.   To purchase tickets, please contact Brenda Howley or Cindy Reid ($5 each, 3 for $10). 

Another way to help is to donate directly to The Howley Foundation.

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A calcutta and silent auction to benefit the residents whose apartments were flooded just before Christmas will be held on Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 6pm. 

Tickets are $30 for one person and $10 for each additional person in your group.   Silent auction items will also be available, followed by a live band.

The event will  be held at the St. John’s Club is located at the end of Lakeside Avenue in Burlington. Proceeds will be used to support the tenants who were the hardest hit when a coupling crack in a fire suppression and alarm system at Cedar’s Edge, a new apartment building on Susie Wilson Road in Essex, caused the building to flood on December 20. 

Champlain Housing Trust staff, with assistance from the Red Cross, found temporary hotels for the 58 residents. People living in 18 apartments were allowed to return on Christmas Eve, and residents of the 12 damaged apartments have been housed while repairs are made.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Champlain Housing Trust at 862-6244 or visit their offices at 88 King Street in Burlington.

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In August 2011, the University of California at Davis welcomed the first residents of UC Davis West Village, a multi-use development that is expected to generate the same amount of energy that it consumes.

The West Village community includes commercial space and apartments for 800 students. When completed, the community will also include an energy research center.

Read more.

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Pathways to Housing Vermont will be hosting its first ever fundraising event this weekend.   The party will take place on Saturday, February 18th at Cafe Maglianero in Downtown Burlington.

Pathways Vermont first opened its doors in January 2010. Funded by grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Vermont State Department of Corrections (DOC), the Pathways Team works find permanent and independent housing for tenants, using a “Housing First” approach to addressing homelesssness among people with psychiatric disabilities.  

Purchase tickets or make a donation or check out the on-line auction. 

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Many applicants for assisted rental housing in Vermont will now need only complete a single application as a beginning point in the process of applying for housing under the many different programs available.

Developing the application began as a joint effort by the Vermont Housing Managers Association and VHFA in May of 2010 and was motivated by requests from housing managers, applicants, case managers and social service agencies who work with rental housing applicants throughout the state.

New rental housing receiving loans and housing credit funding from VHFA will be automatically required to use the common application. Existing projects across the state are also encouraged to use it.

Read or download the common rental application.

Please contact VHFA’s Sam Falzone, (802) 652-6435, with any questions or comments.

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According to WCAX’s story this week about a local family of four, the road out of homelessness is particularly long and challenging when juggling the needs of children.   

The family spent six months in a shelter specially designed for families, which required balancing the demands of living with ten other families.  The family’s oldest daughter faced the additional complexities of  attending elementary school while living in a shelter.

The stresses and costs of the road out of homelessness highlight the importance of helping families avoid the road into homelessness in the first place.  Identifying interventions that help residents weather precarious situations and stay in their homes will reduce the number of us who experience homelessness each year, suggests a growing body of research on the impact of homelessness prevention programs, such as the latest research brief  from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ evaluation division. 

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The settlement between the nation’s top five mortgage lenders, the states, and the federal government will bring $3.1 million to Vermonters in the form of loan modifications and other relief.   An additional $3.6 million will go to the state’s coffers for housing related purposes, according to Vermont Public Radio. 

Residents with VHFA mortgages are unaffected since we don’t use any of the lenders involved in this case to service our loans. 

Read more at Vermont Public Radio’s web site.   

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