Blog

Here you'll find the latest information about what's happening at our member organizations, opportunities in the community, and the latest news from the Legislature. Also VAHC Staff share their thoughts about the housing crisis in Vermont.

David Martins

Jul 13, 2021
2 min

How our 2021 Legislative Priorities Fared

The 2021 Legislative session in Vermont was a historic one for housing advocates across the board. While VAHC cheers the unprecedented levels of investment in affordable housing, this year was not without its bumps, challenges, and losses. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the session was conducted entirely remotely. A new biennium brought new leaders in both chambers (including House Speaker Jill Krowinski and Senate Pro Tem Becca Balint) and new members in key committees. Live-

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Evictions and the Pandemic in Vermont: Updates and Time Frames

David Martins

Jul 6, 2021
4 min

Evictions and the Pandemic in Vermont: Updates and Time Frames

Vermont’s eviction moratorium was a keystone measure in protecting renters during the pandemic. Now that the pandemic is subsiding, things are changing. VAHC continues to advocate for strong protections for tenants to help them stay in their housing and access federal rental assistance, and strives to share accurate information to help Vermonters know their rights. Read on for the most recent information: Background The Governor signed the law authorizing the moratorium, S. 3

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David Martins

Jul 6, 2021
2 min

Cindy Reid: Statement from the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition re: S.79

While we are grateful for Governor Scott’s actions to create more affordable housing in Vermont, we are disappointed by his veto of S.79, the Rental Housing Safety Bill. This legislation had the support from a wide array of groups, including the Vermont Landlords Association, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, the Vermont Planning and Development Association, Regional Planning Commissions, the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness, and fr

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David Martins

Jun 18, 2021
2 min

ACTION ALERT: Tell Vermont lawmakers to support the Rental Housing Safety Bill!

We have a chance to get S. 79, the long-awaited Rental Housing Safety Bill, across the finish line this session. We need your help! Housing advocates have worked for years to pass a rental housing safety bill that will professionalize Vermont’s code inspection system, establish a rental housing registry, and create a program to fund repairs to code non-compliant housing. It is a crucial step to protecting tenants’ access to safe, adequate rental housing. This bill, S. 79, mad

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Issue Spotlight: Improving housing conditions for migrant farmworkers

David Martins

Apr 29, 2021
6 min

Issue Spotlight: Improving housing conditions for migrant farmworkers

Vermont dairy farmworkers are surely some of the folks most in need of a safe, comfortable place to rest at the end of the day. They work long hours at difficult, often physically grueling tasks to produce Vermont’s famed milk, dairy, and agricultural products, filling an essential role in the state’s agricultural economy. Yet they face some of the most severe housing challenges in the state, including unsanitary conditions, overcrowding, structural safety issues, and critica

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David Martins

Apr 19, 2021
2 min

What does the American Rescue Plan mean for Vermont?

If you’re wondering why everyone keeps talking about “ARPA,” you’re not alone. The American Rescue Plan Act, the most recent federal stimulus package, was signed into law on March 11, 2021, and includes much more on top of the $1400 economic stimulus payments. Senator Bernie Sanders called the Act “the most significant legislation for working families in the modern history of this country.” There is a significant amount for housing programs, though we don’t yet know when Verm

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Issue Spotlight: Ensuring Rental Housing Safety

David Martins

Apr 16, 2021
4 min

Issue Spotlight: Ensuring Rental Housing Safety

Vermont renters, especially those with the lowest incomes, face not only a critical shortage of affordable housing, but a crumbling housing stock in which a significant portion of the rental housing in the private market has serious health and safety problems. For too long, the state has had no coherent inspection or code enforcement system, leaving renters with no recourse to hold landlords accountable for addressing issues and improving substandard housing. To address this

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David Martins

Mar 30, 2021
3 min

Issue Spotlight: Vermont Home Prices Soar, Squeezing Workers Vermonters Out

The rapidly rising price of homes in Vermont is a worrying trend. Strikingly, sales of $1 million homes in Vermont nearly tripled in the last year. Home prices overall rose 6.9% statewide from 2019, with most of the growth in prices occurring during the second half of the year, according to Vermont Property Transfer Tax records. Burlington, in particular, is experiencing a housing boom—from January to early March, Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty reported a 17.6% i

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David Martins

Mar 30, 2021
3 min

April is Fair Housing Month!

Celebrate home and community with CVOEO’s Fair Housing Project. Where we live matters – it’s connected to how we get to work, access healthcare, where our children go to school, and our physical environment. Stable, safe, and affordable homes provide the foundation for vibrant and thriving communities and there is a strong correlation between housing opportunity and health disparities, especially for people of color and others who experience discrimination. This has been espe

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The Impact of Federal Assistance: How CARES Act Dollars Helped Keep Vermonters Housed

David Martins

Feb 3, 2021
9 min

The Impact of Federal Assistance: How CARES Act Dollars Helped Keep Vermonters Housed

Vermont has long been in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic threatened low-income Vermonters’ already precarious ability to access safe, affordable housing. As sectors of the economy shut down across the country, millions of Americans lost jobs and income; in Vermont, over 136,000 lost work. Nationally, nearly 1 in 5 renters is behind on rent, and experts warn of an impending eviction crisis once moratoriums expire. As officials urged Vermon

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Vermonters Stood Together for Unhoused Neighbors on Homelessness Awareness Day

David Martins

Feb 1, 2021
8 min

Vermonters Stood Together for Unhoused Neighbors on Homelessness Awareness Day

This year’s virtual Homelessness Awareness Day was a call with renewed urgency to take concrete steps to end homelessness in Vermont. Sean Elsass says he never thought in a million years that he would ever have to stop working or become homeless. He had worked his whole life: first as a lieutenant in his home state of Texas and later a corrections officer in Vermont. That is, until health issues forced him to stop. Unable to pay the bills, in late 2019 he found himself with n

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Deadlines Approaching for Vermont CRF-Funded Financial Assistance Programs

David Martins

Dec 4, 2020
3 min

Deadlines Approaching for Vermont CRF-Funded Financial Assistance Programs

Thanks to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Vermont was able to support unique and targeted programs to help low-income families and families suffering from the economic fallout of Covid-19 stay safely housed. But as it stands, dollars from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) must be expended by the end of the year, and many Vermont programs have deadlines coming up sooner. The state does not want Vermonters to be struggling to pay bills, and we wa

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David Martins

Oct 9, 2020
3 min

Financial Assistance Available for Vermonters! Apply Now and Spread the Word

Vermont was allocated a large amount of CARES Act funding and some of it is still available to help low-income and financially vulnerable Vermonters through these trying times. Thanks to Vermont Legal Aid for providing the following summary of programs that can help Vermonters stay in their housing, find new housing, and pay the bills. Dear Folks: During these difficult times, new financial help programs are available to many Vermonters. The state does not want people to be s

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Annual Meeting Brings Together VT Affordable Housing & Homelessness Advocates

David Martins

Sep 18, 2020
6 min

Annual Meeting Brings Together VT Affordable Housing & Homelessness Advocates

Coalition Members Hear Updates from Lt. Governor, Congressional Staff & State Agencies Affordable Housing Coalition Elects New Steering Committee Members Thanks to all who attended the joint annual meeting of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition and the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness. While we couldn’t gather in person as usual this year due to COVID-19 safety concerns, we are so thankful that our partners across the state remain engaged in the fight to end homeles

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David Martins

Aug 4, 2020
2 min

Resources for Low/No-Income Economic Impact Payments

Please see the following information about Economic Impact Payments from Vermont Legal Aid and the IRS: The federal coronavirus relief law (called the CARES Act) will give money to most adults in the United States. The IRS will send the money to your home in the form of a check or a special debit card, or they will deposit it in your bank account. (Learn more about the debit card that you might get.) Some people who have not filed a tax return will need to file a tax form to

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David Martins

Aug 3, 2020
1 min

COVID-19 Support – CovidSupportVt.org

Please see the following announcement from COVID-19 Support VT: COVID-19 Support Vermont Flyer The State of Vermont recently received funds from FEMA to run a Crisis Counseling Program in response to the pandemic, called COVID Support VT. One of our immediate goals of the program is to share educational and self-help materials on how to manage stress, reduce anxiety, and develop positive coping strategies. We need your help in sharing this information statewide with your comm

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Breaking: Front-Line Employees Hazard Pay Grant Program Applications to Open For Employers (Includin

David Martins

Aug 3, 2020
3 min

Breaking: Front-Line Employees Hazard Pay Grant Program Applications to Open For Employers (Includin

State of Vermont OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR For Immediate Release Monday, August 3, 2020 Media Contact Candace Morgan, Secretary’s Office, Agency of Human Services 802-585-0407 | candace.morgan@vermont.gov GOVERNOR PHIL SCOTT ANNOUNCES FRONT-LINE EMPLOYEES HAZARD PAY GRANT PROGRAM APPLICATIONS TO OPEN FOR EMPLOYERS Employers are encouraged to apply starting August 4 Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today announced that beginning Tuesday, August 4, public safety, public heal

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VHFA Blog: VHFA to hold information sessions on Tax Credit Qualified Allocation Plan updates

David Martins

Jul 29, 2020
2 min

VHFA Blog: VHFA to hold information sessions on Tax Credit Qualified Allocation Plan updates

VHFA News Housing news from Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) VHFA to hold information sessions on Tax Credit Qualified Allocation Plan updates By Mia Watson on Jul 28, 2020 08:29 am Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) is in the process of updating the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) for 2022 to 2023. The Agency sought initial public comment on the plan in February. As part of its continued public engagement VHFA will hold four virtual informational sessions in August a

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David Martins

Jul 29, 2020
1 min

Webinars from VBSR

Please see the following Webinars from VBSR: Where Our Food Goes – Retailers’ & Restaurants’ Path to Recovery from COVID-19 featuring speakers from High Meadows Fund, The Farmhouse Group, Burlington Farmers Market, and Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets’ Working Lands Enterprise Initiative Wednesday, July 29th 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Click here to register Just announced as the next workshop in our ongoing Racial Justice Webinar Series: Seeing & Disrupting Racism: A Focu

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VHFA Expands Mortgage Assistance Program

David Martins

Jul 29, 2020
1 min

VHFA Expands Mortgage Assistance Program

The Mortgage Assistance Grant Program, a Vermont COVID housing relief program launched on July 13 by the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, provides $5 million to help low-income homeowners, including owners of mobile homes, who have fallen behind on their mortgage and are facing economic hardship brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will provide up to 6 monthly mortgage payments directly to the servicer of the mortgage with a goal of preventing future foreclosure. T

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